Crypto's Hopes for Senate Clarity Act Remain Alive Despite Tight Schedule

The crypto industry's optimism for the Senate's Clarity Act remains, despite the challenging legislative calendar. A committee hearing scheduled for May could be the turning point in keeping the bill alive, provided it reaches a final Senate vote by July. The banking sector's concerns over stablecoin rewards have caused significant delays, but negotiations over decentralized finance protections have been largely settled. The Senate's available floor time is dwindling, with only about a dozen weeks of work remaining before the November congressional midterms. If the bill clears the Senate Banking Committee, it will need to be merged with the version passed by the Senate Agriculture Committee. Further revisions are expected, including an ethics piece to limit government officials' ability to profit from crypto interests. The final legislation may win enough Democratic support to pass, and the House is expected to approve it quickly, followed by President Trump's signature. The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, if approved, would be the second major crypto bill to become law, following last year's Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act. However, the unresolved stablecoin matter from the GENIUS Act has delayed progress on the Clarity Act, with bank lobbyists backing their concerns that stablecoin rewards programs could jeopardize the banks' business model. The debate has sparked interventions from the White House and tough rhetoric from crypto insiders, including Coinbase's Chief Legal Officer. While key Senate negotiators had an agreement in principle to move forward with a compromise, Republican Senator Tillis has said that earlier hopes for April progress are likely slipping into May. The White House has leaned into the crypto position on allowing some rewards that don't look like interest on core bank deposits. Insiders say the compromise has hovered around an approach that would ban payment of yield on products that look or act like insurance on a deposit, but would still let firms structure rewards programs akin to credit-card incentives. Crypto lobbyists are desperate for immediate action, but the industry is playing the long game on the political front, with crypto PACs devoting millions of dollars to adding to the list of friends in Congress from both parties.