Crypto industry backs CLARITY Act yield compromise as Senate markup pressure builds

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CLARITY Act yield compromise

Highlights

Compromise text from Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks bars crypto firms from offering bank deposit–like yields on stablecoin balances, reshaping incentive models.
The language allows rewards for bona fide activities or transactions and mandates Treasury and CFTC to draft implementing rules within a year of enactment.
Major industry groups including Blockchain Association, Crypto Council for Innovation, and Coinbase support the compromise, viewing it as key progress for advancing the broader CLARITY Act through committee.

Yield language reshapes rewards model

As first reported by CoinDesk, crypto trade groups are urging the Senate Banking Committee to move ahead with a markup after U.S. Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks released compromise text on Friday covering stablecoin yield. The language bars crypto firms from paying interest or yield on stablecoin balances in a way that is economically or functionally equivalent to a bank deposit.

The text still creates an opening for rewards tied to bona fide activities or bona fide transactions, and it directs the Treasury Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to write implementing rules within a year of enactment. That framework means firms are likely to shift incentives away from passive "buy and hold" programs and toward "buy and use" models tied to activity on platforms.

Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger calls the agreement a step in the right direction and says the lack of a clear legal framework risks pushing talent, capital and companies outside the U.S. Circle Chief Strategy Officer Dante Disparte also backs the compromise, saying it marks meaningful progress for the bill and supports broader digital asset leadership in the U.S.

Industry support comes with policy concerns

The Crypto Council for Innovation supports advancing the legislation but says the prohibition is broader than the approach taken in last year's GENIUS Act. CEO Ji Hun Kim says the new wording extends beyond issuers and applies across digital asset market participants, while also disputing concerns that stablecoin adoption would drive deposit flight from banks.

Even with those objections, CCI is still pressing lawmakers to move the bill forward, arguing that the wider priority is maintaining U.S. leadership in crypto. Coinbase, which had significant exposure to the negotiations, also signals support, with CEO Brian Armstrong calling for a markup and chief legal officer Paul Grewal saying the compromise preserves activity-based rewards tied to real user participation.

The Senate Banking Committee postponed an earlier CLARITY Act markup in January, and other negotiation points are still unresolved. Even so, the yield provision has been the largest sticking point, making this compromise a potentially important step toward moving the broader market structure bill through committee.

In our earlier coverage of the U.S. Senate’s CLARITY Act compromise, we explained how the draft would curb stablecoin yield that functions like bank-deposit interest. The text still leaves room for incentives tied to bona fide activities or transactions, drawing a clear line between permitted rewards programs and bank-like returns designed to protect traditional deposits.

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