U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged Congress to move swiftly on the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, saying Senate floor time is limited and lawmakers should act now. In a Wall Street Journal op‑ed, Bessent described the bill as necessary to establish clear regulatory rules for digital assets — including cryptocurrencies, tokenized assets and decentralized exchanges — noting the global crypto market is roughly $3 trillion and nearly one in six Americans owns digital assets.
The U.S. House approved the CLARITY Act in July 2025, but the Senate has stalled amid a contentious debate over how the law would treat yields on stablecoins. Traditional banks argue that allowing yields on stablecoins could siphon deposits and meaningfully reduce bank lending. Industry proponents counter that yields are important to spur innovation and keep U.S. markets competitive in the global digital asset ecosystem.
A White House report questioned banking groups’ claims that stablecoin yields pose a large threat to lending. Economists at the Council of Economic Advisers estimated that prohibiting stablecoin yields would raise total U.S. bank lending by only about $2.1 billion — roughly 0.02% of a $12 trillion lending market — with community banks seeing around $500 million in gains. The CEA also estimated a potential annual welfare loss of about $800 million for users if yields were removed.
President Donald Trump has criticized banks for using the stablecoin yield dispute to delay crypto legislation, accusing them of holding both the CLARITY Act and the related GENIUS Act “hostage.”
Separately, the Treasury has proposed rules under the GENIUS Act that would subject payment stablecoin issuers to Anti‑Money Laundering and Counter‑Terrorism Financing requirements. The framework would require sanctions compliance, permit issuers to block, freeze or reject certain transactions, and treat issuers as financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act. Industry observers warn these measures could effectively make stablecoin issuers act like bank‑style gatekeepers; Snir Levi, CEO of blockchain intelligence firm Nominis, cautioned that compliance may lead to more widespread wallet freezes, transaction blocking and asset seizures.
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