Cryptocurrency trade groups called for a surge in key market structure legislation just hours after U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis (R.N.C.) and Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) released compromise language Friday on the performance of stablecoins in the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, the bill’s last major sticking point.
The text prohibits crypto companies from paying interest or yield on stablecoin balances in a manner that is economically or functionally equivalent to a bank deposit.
Creates rewards programs tied to “bona fide activities or transactions” and directs Treasury and the CFTC to draft rules within a year of enactment.
Summer Mersinger, executive director of the Blockchain Association, called the agreement a step in the right direction.
“We congratulate Senators Tillis and Alsobrooks for their leadership in reaching this agreement,” Mersinger said. “Every day without a clear legal framework is an invitation for top-level talent, capital and innovative companies to set up shop elsewhere.”
The Crypto Council for Innovation endorsed the bill while noting its concerns. Its chief executive, Ji Hun Kim, said the new language extends the ban framework far beyond last year’s GENIUS Act, which banned only issuers from paying rewards.
“CCI has been clear that we do not agree with the statements regarding concerns about deposit flight arising from the adoption of stablecoins,” Kim wrote on
Kim urged the committee to advance the bill anyway. “The North Star is ensuring America can lead in crypto; this is the future. We respectfully ask the Banking Senate to act to mark the margin. Now is the time,” he wrote.
Circle Chief Strategy Officer Dante Disparte, whose company issues the USDC and EURC stablecoins, backed the deal wholeheartedly.
“Today’s compromise on stablecoin performance marks significant progress in the CLARITY Act negotiations,” Disparte said. He noted USDC’s growth in cross-border payments, capital markets collateral and agent trading.
“The United States faces a clear choice on digital assets: lead or be led,” he said. “Today’s progress is an encouraging sign that the United States is choosing to lead.”
Coinbase had the most at stake in the negotiations. CEO Brian Armstrong posted “Mark It” after the text appeared. Chief legal officer Paul Grewal said the language preserves activity-based rewards tied to actual participation in crypto platforms, which is what the banking lobby had asked for.
The Senate Banking Committee in January postponed an earlier review of the CLARITY Act. Other negotiating points remain unresolved, but performance language has largely been the biggest hurdle.
Companies will need to restructure rewards programs from a “buy and hold” model to a “buy and play” model to comply with transaction warnings.
