Goldman Sachs chairman and CEO David Solomon has supported the Clarity Act, a crypto market structure bill passing through the Senate, a move that sets one of Wall Street’s biggest banks apart from its rivals.
“I strongly support moving forward with the Clarity Act, so we can get the structure of the market and start moving the innovation process,” Solomoni said in an interview with Politico. He called the bill incomplete, and said its importance lies in creating “a level playing field to promote stability in the markets and allow these markets to develop properly.”
Solomon spoke after Senate Republicans began circulating a new version of the bill this week, ahead of a possible vote. His approval comes against a wave of opposition from other bankers, chief among them JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who declared war on the bill and, in May, criticized Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong for promoting the industry.
Banks split stablecoin yields
The division runs along lines of business. The fight is centered around the regulation that governs stablecoin yields, the rewards crypto platforms can pay users who hold tokens with dollar pegs. Commercial and community banks are warning that the language will take deposits out of insured accounts and reduce local lending.
Six major banking groups, including the American Bankers Association, published a statement Wednesday that called the Clarity Act and its provisions a threat to “local lending that drives economic activity in the US.”
Investment banks like Goldman, which rely less on consumer money, have trained their focus on other parts of the bill.
Solomon referred to language that would allow “regulated institutions that have been on the sidelines to participate continuously,” giving the green light to old-guard firms to use digital assets and blockchain rails. “Goldman Sachs’ opinion is that we strongly believe that we need a single system where everyone can participate,” he said, and refused to weigh in on the opinions of other bankers.
The stance suits Goldman’s own turn toward the property. The bank disclosed a $1.1 billion position in a bitcoin ETF, which the fund called a “tremendous success,” and Solomon revealed a small personal bitcoin.
The stablecoin section of the bill carries the Tillis-Alsobrooks agreement, which prohibits limited yields on idle balances while allowing for smaller activity-based rewards, a line the banking lobby says leaves too much room.
The measure has been in bipartisan debate for months. The House passed its version in July 2025, and the Senate Banking Committee advanced its text by a 15-9 vote in May.
The Clarity Act still faces an uphill battle
The way down the Clarity Act is always confusing. Republican senators John Curtis of Utah and John Cornyn of Texas told Punchbowl News that they share the banks’ concerns about the deposit flight. “Crypto is not going to be a small business loan,” Cornyn said. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana expressed his concerns.
The most acute problem is behavior. The new version of the Clarity Act would prevent government officials from releasing digital assets, language that was negotiated between Senators Cynthia Lummis, Bernie Moreno, and the White House. Democrats call it too weak, in part because they don’t trust Trump’s Justice Department to enforce restrictions on the president.
President Trump and his family have made more than $1 billion in crypto ventures in the past year, fueling Democratic demands for reform. A group of seven Democrats led by Angela Alsobrooks said on Wednesday that the document “falls short” on consumer protection, illegal finance and conflicts of interest.
Lummis made the Clarity Act controversial without guile. “There won’t be a clause that pleases those who oppose the president and pleases the president,” he said while talking to Punchbowl. Majority Leader John Thune intends to hold a vote next week, a window he says lawmakers can decide whether the bill lives or dies before the August recess.
