The ethics provision arrived. It expires with Trump’s term.

The language that decides crypto’s biggest bill finally exists: a ban on federal officials issuing digital assets, enforced only by the Justice Department, with penalties of $250,000 a day, and a sunset clause dated to the next president’s inauguration. Here is what the text actually does, what it carefully does not, and the vote math it has to survive this week. Summary Senate Republicans released updated CLARITY Act text on Wednesday containing the long-awaited ethics provision: a ban on the president, vice president, members of Congress, and senior federal officials issuing or sponsoring digital assets while in office. President Trump personally signed off on the language Monday after months of deadlock, with the White House calling it the most comprehensive ethics provision in history and penalties reaching $250,000 per day. The design choices are the story: the ban covers issuing new assets, not holding or profiting from existing ones; enforcement belongs solely to the Justice Department, with state attorneys general expressly barred; and the entire provision sunsets on January 20, 2029, the next president’s inauguration day. The two Democrats whose committee votes carried the...