GOP Senator Tillis threatens to tank the Crypto Clarity Act unless Trump is banned from promoting digital assets.

Republican Senator Thom Tillis has drawn a hard line: ethics language restricting White House officials from sponsoring, endorsing, or issuing digital assets must be written into the Senate Clarity Act before he will vote yes. Without it, he moves from active negotiator to outright no — a shift that is not a bluff. Tillis is retiring early next year and has no political incentive to soften.

The stakes are structural. Tillis sits on the Senate Banking Committee, the gatekeeper for advancing the bill, and the chamber needs 60 votes for cloture. Democratic Senators Gallego and Schiff have made their bloc's position equally firm: no ethics provisions, no deal. The Trump family's crypto exposure — World Liberty Financial, the USD1 stablecoin, and a combined portfolio valued above $1 billion — is the explicit driver of that demand.

The House already passed its version in July; the Senate is…