A bipartisan ethics proposal aimed at unlocking progress on the US crypto market-structure bill could also produce a large potential tax advantage for President Donald Trump, Bloomberg reported Thursday. The reported benefit centers on how taxes would be handled if the president is required to divest from crypto-related interests under the ethics plan.
According to Bloomberg, an ethics addendum that has not been made public would require Trump to divest from crypto-related businesses. The filing reportedly includes a mechanism that would allow the president to defer capital gains taxes tied to those divestitures, potentially resulting in tax savings in the millions.
Key takeaways
- Bloomberg reports the proposed ethics addendum would require presidential divestment from crypto-related businesses as a condition for advancing the market-structure bill.
- The same proposal reportedly includes a tax-deferral feature that could reduce capital gains taxes, creating a potential windfall for Trump.
- Democrats have raised conflict-of-interest concerns as a major barrier to passing the bill, and the reported tax benefit could renew scrutiny.
- Trump’s most recent financial disclosure (for 2025, released in late June) shows substantial crypto-related earnings tied to licensing of memecoin brands and token sales via World Liberty Financial.
Ethics rules meet a tax question
The market-structure legislation has faced political resistance, largely because of Democratic worries that Trump’s financial involvement in crypto could conflict with the White House’s position on the bill. In an effort to overcome the stalemate, senators have been working on an ethics addendum intended to clarify and narrow potential conflicts.
Bloomberg’s report suggests that the addendum goes beyond divestment requirements by also addressing the tax treatment of any assets the president would have to sell or transfer. “People familiar with the matter,” Bloomberg wrote, indicated the plan would permit Trump to defer capital gains taxes on mandated divestitures, which could translate into substantial savings.
That structure could become a point of contention. While divestment requirements are designed to reduce perceived conflicts, a tax deferral that benefits the president may lead Democrats to argue the ethics safeguards are not strong enough—or not strong in the ways they prefer—despite the divestment trigger.
Why Democrats’ concerns remain central
Democratic objections to Trump’s crypto relationships have been described as a key obstacle to moving the market-structure bill forward. The ethics addendum was reportedly conceived to address those concerns directly, but Bloomberg’s account indicates the reported tax angle may reintroduce doubt about whether the measures genuinely neutralize the president’s incentives.
For readers tracking the bill, the key issue is not only whether divestment occurs, but how effectively the proposed framework separates presidential actions from personal financial exposure—and whether the tax treatment is viewed as consistent with that separation.
Cointelegraph reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
What Trump’s filings show about crypto exposure
Trump’s disclosures provide context for why the ethics debate has been so politically combustible. His annual financial disclosure report for 2025, released at the end of June, showed Trump received about $1.4 billion in income from crypto-related ventures last year.
According to the 927-page disclosure, the largest share of income came from licensing and sales tied to memecoin activity. Trump reportedly earned roughly $635 million from “royalties” in a “license agreement with Celebration Coins,” with “Official Trump (TRUMP)” cited as an example.
The filing also identified World Liberty Financial as the second-biggest source, generating about $588 million through “proceeds from token sales.”
Beyond those major categories, the disclosure reportedly included $197 from the sale of an equity interest in a stablecoin venture.
Those numbers are likely to shape how lawmakers assess whether any divestment requirement would materially reduce Trump’s financial connection to crypto. If the president’s exposure is largely tied to licensing and token-sale-related income, divestment details—such as what must be sold, what can be retained, and how quickly—become crucial.
World Liberty ownership details add complexity
Alongside the financial disclosure, additional information connected to World Liberty Financial’s corporate structure appears to reinforce the idea that Trump-adjacent entities maintain significant involvement. Disclosures on World Liberty’s website indicate that DT Marks DEFI LLC, described as an entity affiliated with Trump and certain family members, holds “approximately 38% of the equity interests” in the parent company of World Liberty.
This matters for the ethics argument because divestment requirements—if they apply broadly—may need to cover not only direct business operations, but also equity stakes and other positions that could benefit from the success of crypto-related initiatives.
At the same time, the reported tax deferral mechanism highlighted by Bloomberg introduces a separate layer of complexity: even if divestment reduces future exposure, how taxes are handled in the transition could still be perceived as aligned with the president’s personal financial interests.
As senators continue negotiating the bill and the ethics addendum, the next thing readers should watch is whether the divestment and tax-handling provisions are finalized and publicly clarified—and whether Democrats, who have already questioned Trump’s conflicts, accept that the safeguards adequately change the underlying incentives around the market-structure legislation.
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