Negotiations over the CLARITY Act — the Senate’s long‑anticipated crypto market‑structure bill — appear to be nearing a conclusion, but key details remain under wraps, and no official date has been set for a Senate Banking Committee markup.
Industry sources and reporters tracking the talks say progress has been significant, yet the bill’s final language and whether it will resolve the long‑running dispute between banks and crypto firms have not been publicly confirmed.
Banks’ Concerns Addressed
Senator Cynthia Lummis, who chairs the Senate Banking Committee’s digital assets subcommittee and has been a lead negotiator, told colleagues that talks are “99% of the way to resolution” on the thorny issue of stablecoin yield.
This signals that negotiators believe they are close to bridging a central divide: banks’ concern that yield on stablecoin deposits could prompt deposit flight and strain traditional lending, versus crypto firms’ desire for commercially viable yield options.
Reporting by Eleanor Terrett of Crypto In America added new detail to the picture. Terrett said the White House has tentatively reached a compromise with Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks, who have worked for nearly two months to hammer out language tied to the CLARITY Act.
According to Terrett, the draft reportedly acknowledges banking sector worries and would likely include measures aimed at limiting yield on idle balances. Banking sources told Terrett they do not yet know the precise contents of the text and said the provision has been kept closely held.
Senate To Hear Crypto, Banking Feedback This Week
Industry engagement with the process is continuing this week. Crypto trade association representatives are scheduled to meet with the Senate Banking Committee later Monday, while banking groups are set to review the draft text on Tuesday.
Those briefings will be critical: crypto stakeholders must decide whether the compromise language is acceptable, and banks will review whether the bill sufficiently addresses their deposit‑flight concerns.
While the draft reportedly will include a ban on yield on idle balances, other sensitive topics remain unresolved. Terrett reported that the bill still needs work on several areas, including decentralized finance (DeFi), token classification, and tokenization.
Those sections will require careful drafting to balance innovation, investor protection, and financial stability before the Banking Committee’s chair, Senator Tim Scott, can move to schedule a markup.
As NewsBTC reported last Friday, some sources suggest that a markup could occur between mid and late April, though no formal scheduling has been announced by the Banking Committee.
Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com