Trump Urges Congress to Pass Crypto Clarity Act at White House Summit, Teases Bitcoin Buys and Hyperliquid Regulatory Push

President Trump hosted a White House cryptocurrency summit on August 19 with executives from Coinbase, Ripple, Robinhood, Polymarket, and Gemini, alongside Wall Street leaders, SEC Chair Paul Atkins, and CFTC Acting Chair Mike Selig. Speaking at approximately 2:30 PM ET, Trump called on Congress to pass a "fair version" of the Crypto Clarity Act, describing it as a "very powerful structure." Atkins echoed the call, saying passing the Clarity Act and sending it to Trump's desk is the SEC's "most important priority." The bill has stalled in the Senate, and the summit appeared designed in part to revive momentum behind it. Trump also disclosed that the U.S. government has discussed accumulating "sizable" amounts of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, building on existing strategic reserve policy.

He separately confirmed that CFTC Chair Selig is working to bring decentralized perpetuals exchange Hyperliquid into the U.S. in a "fully compliant and legal fashion," a comment that sent Hyperliquid's native token HYPE surging more than 11 percent on the day and approaching its all-time high near $71. Crypto-linked equities including Coinbase and Strategy also rose during the meeting. The summit came one day before the CFTC's newly formed Innovation Advisory Committee was set to convene.