Anthony Scaramucci, former White House communications director, has declared the pivotal CLARITY Act "dead on arrival" due to political headwinds from the Trump administration, predicting a choppy and uncertain crypto market through the remainder of the term. In an interview with BeInCrypto, Scaramucci laid out a three-layer argument for why comprehensive crypto legislation is paralyzed, casting a bearish shadow over the regulatory outlook.
Scaramucci cited three primary reasons for the legislative stalemate. First, he argued that President Trump's launch of meme coins before his inauguration, which reportedly netted an estimated $600 to $700 million, created immediate political resistance. This windfall left a "big sour taste" among adversaries in Congress, making Democrats who were once sympathetic to crypto unwilling to hand the President a legislative victory. "I don't see anybody that is against the President that's going to allow him to have a win in cryptocurrency policy right now," Scaramucci stated.
The second layer involves Trump's territorial posturing toward Greenland, which alienated NATO-aligned lawmakers who might have otherwise supported bipartisan regulation. The third and most underestimated factor, according to Scaramucci, is the ongoing U.S. military campaign in Iran. He pointed to a $200 billion defense spending request as evidence the war is consuming all political bandwidth, noting the conflict was launched unilaterally without Congressional notification.
This political gridlock makes gathering the necessary 60 Senate votes to overcome a filibuster "nearly impossible" in the current environment. The CLARITY Act, which passed the House in July 2025 with a strong bipartisan 294-to-134 vote, remains stuck in the Senate over disputes regarding stablecoin yields and broader political friction. Scaramucci warned that missing the narrow legislative window before the November 2026 midterms could shelve meaningful crypto regulation for years.
The regulatory paralysis has direct market consequences. Scaramucci noted that without the CLARITY Act, layer-1 tokens like Solana (SOL), Avalanche (AVAX), and TON will remain stuck. He also observed that most digital asset treasury (DAT) companies have been hammered, with the sector in what he called a bear market. Bitcoin itself is trading near $66,000, down over 45% from its October 2025 all-time high above $126,000.
Despite the bleak short-term outlook, Scaramucci remains a long-term Bitcoin bull. He maintains that Bitcoin will reach $1 million per coin, driven by a generational wealth transfer. He compared MicroStrategy's accumulation strategy to Apple's early iPhone moment, arguing that uncertainty will eventually give way to ubiquity. However, for now, he predicts Bitcoin will "chop higher" and that the full tokenization potential of layer-1 networks cannot be unlocked without legislative progress.
Separately, the Senate Banking Committee is targeting the second half of April for a markup of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, with Senator Cynthia Lummis confirming the timetable. Senator Bernie Moreno emphasized that missing a Senate floor vote by May could push serious digital asset legislation beyond the 2026 midterm cycle. Negotiators have reportedly reached a deal "99% resolved" on the stablecoin yield dispute that canceled a January markup.
The proposed framework would bar passive yield on held stablecoins while allowing activity-based rewards tied to payments, transfers, and wallet use. This reshapes the competitive landscape, potentially channeling stablecoins toward regulated payments plumbing while positioning Bitcoin more clearly as the premier investable risk asset in U.S. crypto markets. Analysts from JPMorgan have called CLARITY passage by midyear a positive catalyst, while prediction market Polymarket placed 2026 signing odds at 72%.
