White House | Crypto

Tether faces US Senate scrutiny over multimillion-dollar payments to a consulting firm co-owned by a former White House crypto adviser. On Oct. 22, Senator Richard Blumenthal, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, demanded records on the stablecoin issuer's reported payments to Nxum, a consulting firm co-founded by Bo Hines, who helped… Read the full story on CryptoSlate Understand the crypto stories that matter and what to watch next. Get The Catalyst in your inbox

The US President detailed many schemes defrauding Americans, but referred only to “cybercurrency“ related to scams. US President Donald Trump hosted a roundtable at the White House on cybercrime, even as he and members of his administration face scrutiny from lawmakers and voters over accusations that they used their positions to enrich themselves with digital assets.  Speaking at the roundtable event on Wednesday, Trump said “countless” Americans lost more than $20 billion from cybercrime in 2025 through impersonation schemes, ransomware attacks, scam centers and other methods. The president added that federal officials had frozen $1 billion in “cybercurrency tied to foreign scammers” and prevented $1.6 billion in losses in 2025 from going to criminals engaging in cybercrime following a March executive order. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (left), President Donald Trump (center) and Attorney General Todd Blanche (right) speaking at the White House on Wednesday. Source: White House Read more

President Donald Trump's crypto agenda has lost a White House negotiator as Patrick Witt confirms his departure and the administration's flagship digital-asset legislation remains stalled in Congress. On Oct. 15, Patrick Witt, executive director of the White House Crypto Council, confirmed his departure after nearly two years in the administration, leaving the government for an… Read the full story on CryptoSlate Understand the crypto stories that matter and what to watch next. Get The Catalyst in your inbox

Witt’s departure leaves a leadership gap at the White House Crypto Council and marks the fourth high-profile exit from the advisory group. Patrick Witt, the executive director of the White House’s Crypto Council, is leaving his current role for a new opportunity in the private sector. “Serving in this administration has been the privilege of a lifetime,” wrote Witt in a Thursday X post, adding that he looks forward to continuing to support US technological advancements “in the private sector.”  Witt served as the White House’s leading advisor on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, would have created the first comprehensive US regulatory framework for the crypto market. The US Senate failed to pass a cloture motion on the legislation in September and further progress this session is unlikely. Read more

White House and U.S. Treasury officials agree that despite some hope that Congress' "lame duck" session could see the bill again, the work's in regulators' hands.

The US commodities regulator submitted a new crypto market regulatory action for White House review days after the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has submitted a new regulatory action covering crypto asset transactions and markets for White House review, as the agency moves forward with its approach to overseeing the digital asset sector. According to a filing with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, the action, titled “Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets,” was received on Sept. 17 and is listed at the “prerule” stage. The designation indicates the action is at an early stage of the rulemaking process and has not yet been formally proposed. The filing does not disclose details of the planned regulation, but comes days after the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act, legislation aimed at establishing a federal regulatory framework for crypto markets. Read more

A settled CFTC order adds a $65,000 penalty and three-year ban while crediting KalshiEX’s assistance. The post White House aide turned secret speech text into $107k on prediction markets before CFTC stepped in appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Advisers, funds, banks and state trust companies now face an active review with October only a target. The post SEC crypto custody rewrite enters White House review with key rules still undisclosed appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The securities regulator’s crypto custody overhaul could clarify how investment advisers and funds hold digital assets for clients as the proposal moves through review. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)  is moving forward with plans to overhaul custody rules for investment advisers and investment companies, potentially giving institutions greater clarity on how they can hold crypto assets for clients while complying with federal securities rules. The proposed rule was sent on Aug. 25 to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), part of the White House Office of Management and Budget, for review before it can move back to the SEC and potentially be released for public comment. Read more

Patrick Witt says the Trump administration will keep negotiating with Democrats as the Senate prepares for a September CLARITY vote. US President Donald Trump’s administration remains committed to passing the CLARITY Act in September despite the Senate’s decision to delay action until after its August recess, according to the White House’s top crypto policy official. Patrick Witt, executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, said Tuesday on X that the administration would continue negotiating with Democrats “all the way up until the September vote,” adding, “we also can’t afford to wait forever.” The Senate is expected to hold a cloture vote on the bill in mid-September, a procedural step that would require 60 votes to advance CLARITY toward a final vote. Read more

The White House is raising pressure on Senate Democrats ahead of a Sept. 15 vote on the CLARITY Act, arguing that lawmakers have already had enough time to reach a deal on crypto market structure. On Aug. 8, Patrick Witt, executive director of the Presidential Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, accused Senate Minority Leader […] The post White House warns CLARITY Act will die Sept 15 unless 7 Democrats vote yes appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Tyler Williams served as Secretary Scott Bessent's principal adviser on blockchain and digital asset policy, making him one of Treasury's top voices on US crypto regulation. He is returning to the private sector after leaving his post on July 31. His exit is the fourth senior crypto departure from a position of federal power this […] The post Odds of CLARITY crypto legislation passing sink to 27% as Treasury, White House, SEC, and Senate leads quit appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The window to pass a comprehensive crypto market structure bill before the Senate breaks for a month-long recess is closing, with ethics a dividing issue for many lawmakers. Two US senators on opposite sides of the political aisle have reportedly sent revised ethics guidelines to the White House as part of discussions over a cryptocurrency market structure bill in Congress. According to a Thursday PunchBowl report, Senator Thom Tillis and Senator Ruben Gallego submitted a counteroffer to the Trump administration that included a change to ethics provisions in the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act. The changes would reportedly address concerns from many lawmakers in the first draft by allowing state authorities to enforce a ban on federal officials issuing or sponsoring tokens rather than the US Attorney General. Gallego, a Democrat, previously said that provisions around ethics, consumer protection, illicit finance, conflicts of interest and market integrity “must be strengthened” and he would continu...

The White House pushed back against the Senate Democrats' rejection of the latest version of the CLARITY Act, with ethics remaining a major sticking point. The clash comes despite President Donald Trump’s decision this week to accept new ethics limits, reflecting how far apart negotiators remain as lawmakers try to advance sweeping crypto market legislation. […] The post White House pushes back as key Democrats rejects CLARITY Act’s crypto ethics appeared first on CryptoSlate.

US officials warn that Chinese firms conducting covert, industrial-scale AI distillation could face sanctions and export restrictions. A White House official accused Moonshot AI of distilling Anthropic’s Fable AI model to develop Kimi K3, which launched last week. In a post on X on Wednesday, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios alleged the Chinese AI firm developed an internal platform to distill US models at scale, using methods designed to evade detection. “Legitimate AI distillation used to create smaller, more efficient models plays a vital role in this open innovation ecosystem,” he said. “However, large-scale, covert industrial distillation aimed at stealing proprietary U.S. technology and undermining American research is unacceptable.” Read more

Without revealing any details about the actual agreement from President Trump on potential presidential restrictions, his White House is urging its acceptance.

The price of Bitcoin moved above $66,000 to reach a seven-week high on Tuesday as reports circulated of a deal with the White House to address ethics in the CLARITY Act. The White House agreed to provisions in a crypto market structure bill that could ensure support from some Democratic lawmakers in the US Senate. According to a Tuesday Punchbowl report, White House officials met with Republican Senators Cynthia Lummis and Bernie Moreno to reach an agreement on ethics language in the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act under consideration in the Senate. Neither Lummis nor Moreno have publicly announced the details of the deal, which could facilitate Democratic support in what is expected to be a tight Senate vote, but the report suggested that it could affect US President Donald Trump’s crypto investments. Read more

Witt’s departure comes during a critical moment for the CLARITY Act, with deputy director Harry Jung expected to assume his responsibilities. Patrick Witt, the White House’s pointman on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, is taking a leave of absence at the end of July for several months of military training, Crypto In America reported. Witt, who has served as the executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets since August, is expected to wrap up his work on July 24 before reporting for Judge Advocate General (JAG) training with the Georgia Army National Guard. The training will qualify him to serve as a legal officer in the Guard, the report wrote. “Patrick has always been forthcoming and honest with every stakeholder that he was taking military leave later this month,” said Cody Carbone, CEO of Digital Chamber, on Tuesday.  Read more

Both US financial regulators are understaffed at the leadership level and lacking Democratic commissioners, with no announcement from President Donald Trump on filling the roles. White House officials claimed that they had “not received names” in response to requests to Senate Democrats for potential commissioners to two US financial regulatory agencies. In a Thursday letter to US Senate majority leader John Thune and minority leader Chuck Schumer, White House officials said that they had already solicited names from Senate Democrats for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The leadership panels of both financial agencies are understaffed, with only Republican members nominated and confirmed by the Senate. The letter came in response to a June 10 request from 12 Senate Democrats over staffing concerns at US federal agencies, including the SEC and CFTC. Although US President Donald Trump has put forward some Democratic names for positions at agencies, in...

Officials from the White House are said to be sitting down with law enforcement representatives who have objected to illicit-finance portions of the bill.