Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon Reportedly Backs CLARITY Act In Split From JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon

Goldman Sachs CEO’s backing comes as Senate Republicans circulate updated CLARITY Act text ahead of a possible floor vote next week.

• Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon extended his support for the CLARITY Act on Thursday.
• He stated that it would provide much-needed market structure and help advance innovation in digital assets.
• Solomon said the bill could encourage greater institutional participation in crypto markets, a key priority for Goldman Sachs.

Goldman Sachs Group, Inc (GS) CEO David Solomon said on Thursday that he supported the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, commonly known as the CLARITY Act, a position that differs from other big bank CEOs, including JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, who have opposed the bill.

"I'm very supportive of moving the Clarity Act forward, so we can get some market structure in place and start to move the innovation process along," Solomon told POLITICO in an interview.

Solomon refused to comment on the views of other bankers, but drew a clear line under Goldman's position. “We believe strongly that we need one system where everybody can participate,” he said, adding that Goldman Sachs’s position is that there will be other things that are “gonna have to happen as we go forward. But it’s a step in the right direction.”

Focus On Institutional Participation

Unlike commercial lenders, investment banks like Goldman Sachs rely less on consumer deposits. Solomon said he has been focused on provisions that would allow “institutions that have been on the sidelines to participate more actively,” instead describing that as “the most important thing” in the bill at this stage.

GS stock fell over 2% during midday trading. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around GS remained in the ‘neutral’ zone, while chatter around it stayed at ‘low’ levels over the past day. 

Senate Push Gains Momentum

Solomon spoke just after Senate Republicans began circulating a new text of the bill before a possible floor vote next week. The new text followed an updated draft that Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) unveiled on Wednesday, combining the separate bills previously passed by the Senate Banking and Agriculture Committees.

A coalition of the industry’s most powerful groups, including the American Bankers Association (ABA), Bank Policy Institute, and Consumer Bankers Association, also warned on Wednesday that the bill’s stablecoin provision threatens “local lending that drives economic activity in the US at risk.”

Solomon Breaks With Jamie Dimon

Solomon’s support puts him at odds with Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan & Chase (JPM), who had said the legislation would have exposed consumer banks to risk by giving crypto firms an unfair advantage with yield-based rewards on dollar-pegged stablecoins. Dimon also clashed publicly with Coinbase (COIN) CEO Brian Armstrong over the bill’s lobbying push in May. 

The bill's path forward remains uncertain, with unresolved fights over stablecoins, opposition from law enforcement groups, and the ethics language itself still in play ahead of any Senate vote. 

Warren Says Crypto Bill Could Never Be Enforced Against Trump

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) argued on Wednesday that the bill's enforcement was ineffective against President Trump himself. It will stop state attorneys general or anyone else from enforcing the law, leaving enforcement solely to Trump's own Attorney General. 

This meant it would cut off authority entirely once Trump left office, meaning no future Department of Justice (DOJ) could hold him accountable for violations committed while in power.

How Coinbase And Circle Reacted?

Circle (CRCL) and Coinbase (COIN), the two firms that would benefit most from the CLARITY Act, were down over 5% and 2%, respectively, amid broader market weakness. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around CRCL remained in the ‘bearish’ zone, while retail sentiment around COIN remained in the ‘bullish’ zone. 

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