Senate delays CLARITY Act markup
- Senators are seeking to postpone the CLARITY Act markup amid disputes over stablecoin yield treatment. - Senator Thom Tillis has asked to delay the Senate markup until May to resolve stablecoin‑yield controversies. - The delay leaves crypto market‑structure timing uncertain and keeps regulatory assumptions fluid for market participants (blockonomi.com) (coindesk.com)
Senate Republicans are pushing the CLARITY Act markup into May as a fight over stablecoin rewards stalls the chamber’s main crypto bill. (coindesk.com) Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina told Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott that the panel should not plan to advance the bill in April, according to CoinDesk and other outlets reporting on the request Monday, April 20. (coindesk.com) (blockonomi.com) The immediate dispute is over “yield,” meaning whether firms can give users a return for holding stablecoins, the dollar-linked tokens used to move cash around crypto markets. Congress’s research arm said the GENIUS Act bars issuers from paying interest or yield, but left open how that ban applies when exchanges sit between the issuer and the customer. (congress.gov) That unresolved wording has become a choke point for the broader market-structure bill, which is supposed to divide oversight of digital assets between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The House already passed its version, H.R. 3633, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, on July 17, 2025. (congress.gov) (crowdfundinsider.com) Senate Banking Committee staff had circulated revised language in early April after weeks of talks between crypto firms and banks. CoinDesk reported on April 2 that both industries were reviewing a compromise, then reported on March 23 that an earlier draft still would not allow rewards on stablecoin balances. (coindesk.com 1) (coindesk.com 2) Banks have argued that letting crypto platforms pass through returns on stablecoins would make them look too much like bank deposits without bank regulation. Crypto companies have argued that blocking those rewards would lock in a bank advantage and limit how consumers use tokenized dollars. (congress.gov) (coindesk.com) The Senate calendar is adding pressure. CoinDesk reported on April 21 that the bill still had “a path to survive” but was running into shrinking floor time, and Congress’s research service said in April that a markup had been expected this month. (coindesk.com) (congress.gov) The delay does not kill the bill, but it leaves the Senate without a settled crypto framework as agencies and firms wait for Congress to decide who regulates what. For now, the fight over whether a digital dollar can pay a return is still holding up the bill meant to sort out the rest of the market. (coindesk.com) (congress.gov)
