CLARITY Act Inches Toward Senate Banking Markup As Talks Restart

Senate negotiations over the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act are moving again, but the bill still does not have a posted Banking Committee markup date. Stablecoin yield remains the main unresolved issue, and other disputes around decentralized finance, ethics rules, and CFTC appointments are still in play.

Senate Banking Talks Aim for April, but Markup Still Isn’t Scheduled

Republican members of the Senate Banking Committee met again on Thursday as talks continued over the latest version of the market structure bill. Lawmakers have pointed to April as the target window for committee action, though no markup has been scheduled.

That leaves the bill in a better position than it was earlier this month, when stablecoin rewards language and other disputes had stalled progress. It also leaves the process unfinished, because the Senate still has not put a formal vote on the calendar. Cynthia Lummis said this week that negotiators are still aiming for committee action by the end of April.

Stablecoin Yield Rules Remain the Main Holdup

The central dispute remains stablecoin yield, or rewards programs that banks argue come too close to interest-bearing deposits. That issue has repeatedly slowed the bill and remains the clearest obstacle to a committee vote.

Lawmakers have been trying to narrow that fight by allowing some forms of rewards while avoiding language that would treat them like bank savings products. Lummis has said the issue is close to resolution, but the latest talks suggest it is not closed. Banks have argued that the bill needs a clearer line if lawmakers want to keep stablecoin rewards from competing too directly with insured deposits.

DeFi Treatment and Ethics Rules Remain Open as CFTC Demands Persist

Stablecoin rewards are not the only issue left. Negotiators are also still working through how the bill treats decentralized finance and whether additional provisions are needed to hold support together inside and outside the committee.

Democratic lawmakers involved in the talks have continued pressing for limits on personal crypto profits by senior government officials and lawmakers. They have also pushed for filling vacant Democratic seats at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission before the agency takes further crypto rulemaking steps.

Those issues are harder to settle through committee drafting alone. Some of them go beyond the bill’s technical language and into broader political negotiations with the White House.

White House Review Enters the Negotiation Loop

People familiar with the discussions said updated legislative text has been circulated to the White House as negotiations continue. That does not mean the final package is complete, but it does show the process has moved beyond committee-only talks.

The same people said lawmakers have also discussed other possible tradeoffs as they try to secure support from banking interests. Those talks remain part of the negotiation stage rather than part of any released Senate text. For now, the public record still shows a bill under active revision rather than one ready for floor action.

Regulators Move Ahead as Congress Keeps Negotiating

The legislative talks are unfolding as regulators begin building out their own crypto framework. The SEC this week issued a formal statement explaining how federal securities laws apply to certain crypto assets, and the CFTC joined that interpretation.

Paul Atkins and the SEC’s two Republican commissioners also used a public statement this week to call for legislation behind that framework.

“Only Congress can rewrite the law, and we stand ready to work with [Commodity Futures Trading Commission] Chairman Michael Selig to implement the CLARITY Act,”

they wrote.

“In the meantime, we are providing the responsible regulatory approach that markets demand.”

Congress is still writing the law, while agencies are already setting out how they intend to approach the market under current authority.

CLARITY Advances, but Senate Banking Still Hasn’t Set a Markup Date

The clearest change this week is that negotiations are moving and updated text is circulating. The clearest limit is that the committee still has no posted markup date, and several of the hardest disputes remain unresolved.

That leaves the CLARITY Act closer to a Senate Banking vote than it was during the earlier impasse, but not yet at the point where the path is settled.