According to Patrick Witt, the White House's primary crypto adviser, efforts are ongoing to solidify a compromise that could propel the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act forward in the U.S. Senate. In a recent interview, Witt suggested that the bipartisan agreement on stablecoin yield remains intact. 'We are hopeful that the reached compromise will be durable and hold,' Witt stated, adding that resolving this issue was a prerequisite for addressing other outstanding matters.
Besides the stablecoin yield debate, which bankers had cautioned could jeopardize their deposit base, the Clarity Act faced other potential obstacles, including illicit financial protections in the DeFi space and a Democratic request to bar senior government officials from profiting from the crypto sector. Although Witt declined to specify which topics have been resolved, he noted that negotiations have made significant progress behind the scenes.
'We are very close to closing them out,' he said. 'The fact that we have been able to close out a lot of these issues gives me confidence that we can close out the remaining ones.' The Clarity Act requires a markup hearing in the Senate Banking Committee before it can proceed to a final Senate vote. Earlier in the year, the process was delayed due to bank lobbyists' objections to stablecoin yield. Last week, White House economists released a report downplaying the banking sector's concerns about stablecoin yield, prompting a response from the American Bankers Association.
Witt observed that bankers' views on the issue vary depending on their proximity to the technology. 'They are grappling with it,' he said. 'These are important issues to their members, and some will view stablecoins more positively, while others will be more threatened by them.'