Rep. Maxine Waters Escalates Crypto Crackdown: Legislation Push Meets Industry Backlash

Washington draws battle lines as Waters targets digital assets with aggressive new regulatory framework.

Key players brace for impact—will this mark a turning point or just another political stalemate?

Meanwhile, crypto markets shrug off the news with characteristic volatility. Some things never change.

Rep. Maxine Waters Slams Crypto Bills In Fiery Press Release

Published on the Democrats’ U.S. House Committee on Financial Services website, Waters slammed the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, better known as the CLARITY Act.

“The bill presents several serious risks: it exposes consumers to exploitation by bad actors in the crypto industry, undermines national security, and ignores Donald Trump’s escalating conflicts of interest tied to his personal involvement in cryptocurrency,” Waters wrote.

Three crypto bills are now officially being debated on the House floor before a vote

Congresswoman Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the Financial Services Committee, doesn’t look too pleased… pic.twitter.com/18r6IFMR18

“This bill, which should be called the ‘CALAMITY Act,’ is bad public policy, plain and simple,” she added. “This bill would lead to increased investor harm, plant the seeds for the next financial crisis, and endanger our national security.”

Donald Trump’s Crypto Ties Questioned

Waters’ latest press release comes the same day U.S. lawmakers are slated to hold a floor vote on key crypto legislation amid Republicans’ self-declared “Crypto Week.”

The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation For U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act is also being considered alongside the CLARITY Act and anti-Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) provisions.

While the pieces of digital asset legislation are widely seen as positive by the crypto community, critics of the bills argue that they lack necessary regulatory oversight and potentially allow politicians to profit from their own cryptocurrencies.

U.S. President Donald TRUMP has faced growing scrutiny in recent months over his ties to the digital asset sector after having launched his $TRUMP namesake memecoin this past January.

Shortly after, the Trump-affiliated crypto platform World Liberty Financial launched its own stablecoin, USD1.

“No one should be surprised that the Republicans’ next order of business is a billion-dollar handout to the President himself,” Waters said.