The Senate failed to pass a cryptocurrency ethics rule that would have required senior federal officials to sell their stakes exceeding $15,000 in digital asset-related businesses or place them in a qualified blind trust. However, the rule would not have applied to officials' adult children.

A CryptoSlate analysis noted that the bill, which failed to pass on September 15, had a loophole by not covering the interests of adult children, raising ethical concerns about the Trump family's crypto assets. Citing Reuters, the report stated that Donald Trump's 2025 financial disclosures showed over $1.4 billion in crypto business income, primarily related to World Liberty Financial and Trump memecoin operations, which were co-founded by his sons. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, after joining the cabinet, also transferred his shares in Cantor Fitzgerald, a company deeply involved with Tether, the issuer of USDT, to a trust for his adult children.

The analysis concluded that this loophole legally separates officials from their assets, yet family wealth remains closely tied to industries influenced by government policy, highlighting the challenges existing federal conflict-of-interest laws face in the crypto sector.