Crypto Clarity Act may be cleared to move after senators agree on stablecoin yield
The two U.S. senators negotiating a controversial provision in the crypto industry’s market structure bill — Republican Thom Tillis and Democrat Angela Alsobrooks — have reportedly agreed on a compromise that could advance the industry’s top priority to the next stage in the Senate.
The two were quoted by Politico as saying they’ve agreed in principle on an approach to stablecoin yield in the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, and that potentially knocks down one of the top unresolved issues in the wide-ranging bill. Still, no further details emerged, other than Alsobrooks reiterating that the yield accord would bar rewards on passive balances of stablecoins.
Bankers had argued that stablecoin rewards on holdings of the U.S. dollar-tied tokens could closely resemble interest on bank deposits, and any threat to that core component of U.S. banking could put lending at risk. Both Alsobrooks and Tillis had agreed to find an approach that wouldn’t threaten banking.
The White House was reviewing updated legislative text on Thursday, CoinDesk previously reported. White House officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the Friday development.
Industry insiders have told CoinDesk that they were aware of a new compromise, but they haven’t yet seen the legislative text that the senators agreed on.
Though the stablecoin question was at the forefront of the Clarity Act negotiations, there remain a number of other points to iron out, including the bill’s treatment of decentralized finance (DeFi), a corner of the sector in which some Democrats had expressed unease over illicit finance.
Lawmakers have suggested in recent days that the Clarity Act could get a Senate Banking Committee hearing late next month. If it’s approved there, it advances toward the Senate floor, though it first needs to be melded with a similar version that already passed in the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Advocates have been hoping for a May resolution of the years-long legislative effort. But Senate floor time is at a premium, and it’s under some threat from unrelated issues, such as the Republican’s voter-ID bill and the back-and-forth over the war in Iran.
