Senate holds markup on CLARITY-style crypto bill, advancing bank-crypto rollout

Crypto regulation is back in the Senate, and this time the key move is procedural but real. The Senate Banking Committee has scheduled a May 14 executive session to consider H.R. 3633, the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act of 2025. That matters because this is the committee that controls a big chunk of the rules for custody, investor protections, and who regulates what. The gap until now was simple — everyone said they wanted “clarity,” but the Senate’s own version kept stalling before it could even get through markup. ### What is this bill actually trying to do? Basically, it is Congress trying to draw a map for crypto that U.S. regulators have never fully agreed on. The bill lays out how digital assets get classified and when the SEC versus the CFTC gets the lead. It also sets up rules for trading venues, intermediaries, and custody — which is the part banks care about most, because custody is the cleanest way for banks to touch crypto without becoming full-on token issuers. (banking.senate.gov) ### Why is the Senate Banking Committee the choke point? Because the Senate split this project across committees. Agriculture already advanced its market-structure bill in January, and House leaders treated that as one half of a larger Senate package. Banking still has to move its side before the Senate can really talk about a unified product. So even though “markup” sounds wonky, this is the gate that has been blocking the whole process. (banking.senate.gov) ### Why did this get stuck for months? The fight that jammed the gears was stablecoin yield. Crypto firms wanted room to offer rewards that make stablecoins more attractive to hold and use. Banks hated that idea, because once a dollar-backed token starts looking like an interest-bearing account, it starts competing with deposits. The January markup was postponed at the last minute while negotiators tried to stop the bill from creating a shadow savings product outside the banking system. (financialservices.house.gov) ### What changed enough to restart it? A bipartisan compromise from Sens. Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks helped unfreeze the process. The rough idea was to narrow how rewards can work so they look less like passive interest on idle balances and more like incentives tied to use. That did not make everyone happy, but it gave Senate Banking enough political room to put the bill back on the calendar for May 14 at 10:30 a.m. in Dirksen 538. (banking.senate.gov) ### Why are banks still upset? Because from their perspective, the compromise still gets too close to deposit competition. Bank trade groups have argued that even a narrowed rewards model could pull funds away from traditional accounts if consumers can park dollars in token form and still get perks. Crypto firms see that complaint as incumbent protectionism. Banks see it as a basic financial-stability issue. That split is why a committee vote does not mean the policy fight is over. (cnbc.com) ### Does this mean banks can suddenly roll out crypto services? Not overnight. But it does move the conversation from abstract policy to actual legal plumbing. If Banking advances the bill, lawmakers still have to win broader Senate support and then reconcile Banking’s work with Agriculture’s framework and the House-passed CLARITY approach. Still, every committee step makes it easier for banks, custodians, and exchanges to plan for a world where token custody and other regulated crypto services sit inside a clearer federal rulebook. (cnbc.com) That is the real rollout story here. ### What should readers watch next? Watch the vote count on May 14, and watch whether any Democrats join Republicans at committee. CNBC noted the vote could be largely along party lines, which would move the bill but also signal more work ahead on ethics language and other unresolved issues. The bigger tell is not just whether markup happens — it is whether Senate leaders can turn two committee products into one bill that the House will still accept. (financialservices.house.gov) ### Bottom line? The news is not that America suddenly has a crypto law. The news is that the Senate’s missing piece is finally moving again — and that is the step bank-crypto integration needed before any serious rollout could happen. (banking.senate.gov) (cnbc.com)