The two US senators negotiating a controversial provision in the crypto industry market structure bill – Republican Thom Tillis and Democrat Angela Alsobrooks – have reportedly agreed to a compromise that could advance the industry’s top priority to the next stage in the Senate.
Politico quoted the two as saying that they had agreed in principle on an approach to stablecoin performance in the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, and that that potentially knocks down one of the major unresolved issues in the sweeping bill. Still, no further details emerged, other than Alsobrooks reiterating that the performance agreement would prohibit rewards on passive stablecoin balances.
Bankers had argued that stablecoin rewards for holdings of U.S. dollar-pegged tokens could closely resemble interest on bank deposits, and any threat to that core component of U.S. banking could put lending at risk. Both Alsobrooks and Tillis had agreed to find an approach that would not threaten the bank.
The White House was reviewing the updated legislative text on Thursday, CoinDesk previously reported. White House officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday’s development.
Industry experts told CoinDesk they were aware of a new compromise, but have not yet seen the legislative text that senators agreed to.
While the stablecoin issue was at the forefront of the Clarity Act negotiations, other points remain to be resolved, including the bill’s treatment of decentralized finance (DeFi), a corner of the sector where some Democrats had expressed concerns about illicit finance.
Lawmakers have suggested in recent days that the Clarity Act could get a Senate Banking Committee hearing late next month. If approved there, it advances to the Senate floor, although it must first be merged with a similar version that has already passed the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Advocates have been waiting for a May resolution of the years-long legislative effort. But time in the Senate is short and it is under some threat from unrelated issues, such as the Republican voter ID bill and the back-and-forth over the war in Iran.
