EXCLUSIVE: New Conservative Campaign Demands Senate Buck Big Banks In Crypto Spat

A conservative group is urging the Senate to pass legislation over objections from big banks which President Donald Trump’s White House says will help cryptocurrency flourish, the Daily Caller News Foundation has learned.

Save Our States (SOS) on Friday unveiled an ad titled “Big Banks are trying to destroy President Trump’s crypto agenda,” the same day its Executive Director Trent England sent a letter to Republican South Carolina Sen. and Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott. First shared with the DCNF, England’s letter called for the Senate to take action on the bipartisan Trump-backed Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 (“CLARITY Act”) and warned against intense lobbying from banks that has stalled the bill’s progress.

“As we have seen time and again, big banks will talk about innovation even as they quietly try to shut it down,” England wrote in his Friday letter to Scott. “President Trump has made clear that America should be the crypto capital of the world, but some of the nation’s largest financial institutions are working behind the scenes to restrain that progress. Delay is not a neutral position.”

Executive Director of Trump’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets Patrick Witt said at Bitcoin 2026 in Las Vegas on Monday that the crypto industry will “take off like a rocket ship” if the CLARITY Act passes.

The legislation has sat in the upper chamber for over nine months. The House passed the bill via a 294-134 vote in July 2025, with 78 Democrats joining all 216 voting Republicans in favor of the crypto legislation.

“Every month without action is another month of lingering uncertainty, lost innovation, and an unwise gift to foreign competitors. Our country cannot afford further delay,” England added. “Clear rules are what this industry needs. American entrepreneurs, investors, and developers today operate under an uncertain framework that leaves them guessing how old laws apply to new technologies and relationships.”

SOS’ executive director said that this “uncertainty” has become “one of the greatest obstacles to growth, pushing investment and technological advancement overseas — including to some of America’s adversaries.”

He noted in his letter that the CLARITY Act “would create well- defined regulatory responsibilities, provide certainty for innovators, protect consumers, and ensure legitimate businesses can compete and continue to innovate.”

Should the Senate pass the CLARITY Act to support cryptocurrency growth despite bank opposition?

“It would replace confusion with clarity, establishing a framework to encourage innovation and safeguards fair competition,” he added, referring to the long-delayed legislation. “There is not an either-or choice here between stability and innovation. Both are possible, and necessary. … The CLARITY Act shows the Senate is serious about preserving American financial leadership and our national security while unleashing American innovation to the benefit of entrepreneurs and consumers alike.”

“President Trump has pledged to make America the Crypto capital of the world,” a male announcer says in SOS’ 45-second ad released Friday and first shared with the DCNF. “It’s critical to his plans for national security, affordability, innovation, and perhaps most of all, freedom. Right now, Congress is considering legislation that will make Trump’s Crypto vision a reality with: Rules that make sense, Innovation that stays in America, And Protection that people can trust.”

“But the same big banks that closed Trump’s accounts are also trying to destroy his plans for Crypto. Big banks don’t want Americans to have options — they don’t want competition, they want control,” the announcer continues. “They’re hiding behind proxies like community banks. Congress shouldn’t let big banks destroy Trump’s crypto agenda.”

POLARIS National Security released a Tuesday memo first shared with the DCNF, urging Congress to look at the proliferation of crypto as a national security issue, as opposed to it being purely a part of economic policy.

Crypto “is not yet the primary channel for global illicit finance, but its trajectory and utility for certain actors make it a rising national security concern,” POLARIS executive director Sebastian Borda told the DCNF on Tuesday. He added that while “traditional methods still account for the majority of global illicit finance, cryptocurrency is growing rapidly and offers distinct advantages, including speed, cross-border accessibility, and reduced reliance on the formal banking system.”

Crypto accounted for $82 billion in money laundering throughout 2025, Reuters reported. This figure represented an eight-fold growth from just five years earlier, when the total annual amount of cypto money laundering was $10 billion. Chinese-speaking networks accounted for $40 million per day in crypto processing in 2025, according to research firm Chainalysis. Chinese networks became major players in crypto laundering during the COVID-19 pandemic.

SOS launched in 2009, initially in an effort to stop blue states from undermining the Electoral College, according to its website. The organization later expanded its involvement to other issues impacting federalism and states’ rights.

“We have engaged with partners to make the case that states can do more to protect against some of the most dangerous threats to our nation,” SOS’ website adds.

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