Senator Thom Tillis is moving to bring the long‑debated CLARITY Act into the Senate Banking Committee’s markup phase after the congressional recess, telling colleagues there is “significant consensus” and urging a prompt hearing. He said he will release updated legislative language on stablecoin yield “four to five days” before the hearing so industry and other stakeholders can review it in advance.
Tillis said recent talks have resolved “most concerns from the banking sector regarding the risks associated with stablecoin yield” and asked institutions with outstanding objections to “participate in good faith to improve the legislation.” Behind the scenes, banks and crypto firms have clashed over whether paying yield on stablecoin balances should be tightly restricted or allowed under specified conditions — a dispute that previously delayed the markup.
Draft compromise text circulated by Tillis would bar digital asset providers from offering yield “directly or indirectly on stablecoin balances” in ways that are economically equivalent to bank interest, while permitting narrowly defined activity‑based rewards tied to payments or platform use.
Tillis also said he “generally supports” Senator Cynthia Lummis’s approach to protecting non‑custodial crypto developers from being ensnared by mid‑20th century criminal statutes, in particular worries about broad application of 18 U.S.C. § 1960. Proposals backed by Lummis would codify that only entities with actual control over customer assets — not open‑source or non‑controlling developers — face licensing and criminal exposure.
Taken together, Tillis’s remarks indicate forward movement on two core U.S. crypto policy questions: which stablecoin rewards will be allowed, and where the line will be drawn between protocol developers and intermediaries that handle funds. Market participants warn that unclear U.S. rules on yield and custody are already shaping product design, and greater regulatory clarity could help align on‑chain signals with institutional participation in assets such as Bitcoin.