The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act’s compromise language on stablecoin yield has circulated among crypto and banking industry stakeholders in closed-door Capitol Hill sessions, with a Senate Banking Committee markup now targeted for the second half of April — though the text has drawn a mixed, and in some corners hostile, reception.
Summary
- Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks reached an agreement in principle on stablecoin yield on March 20; formal draft language was reviewed by crypto industry leaders on March 24 and banks on March 25
- The compromise bans passive yield on stablecoin balances but permits activity-based rewards tied to payments, transfers, or platform use
- Polymarket had the CLARITY Act priced at a 66% probability of becoming law in 2026 as of April 2
The Tillis-Alsobrooks deal draws a firm line: platforms cannot offer yield — directly or indirectly — for simply holding a stablecoin. Rewards remain permissible only when tied to user activity, not passive balances. The framework gives the SEC, CFTC, and Treasury twelve months to define what specific rewards programs are permissible.
“The compromise that myself and Senator Tillis have been working on is one that we believe will allow us to have the guardrails in place that will help us prevent deposit flight,” Senator Alsobrooks told an American Bankers Association summit.
The banking industry’s position reflects existential concern. Standard Chartered analysts estimated that an open-ended yield provision could redirect up to $500 billion in deposits from traditional banks into stablecoin products by 2028. Banks won the core argument they sought: passive yield is off the table.
Industry Reaction
The industry reception has been far from unified. As the deal first emerged, the market structure bill was framed as potentially unblocking one of the most consequential crypto legislative events of the cycle. But the actual text has landed closer to the bank position than the White House’s earlier compromise framing. Coinbase privately told Senate staff it could not accept the March 23 draft. Stripe has also objected. Broader institutional appetite for regulated crypto products — from ETFs to structured tokens — makes the CLARITY Act’s outcome a critical variable for the entire institutional crypto pipeline in 2026.
The stablecoin yield text is not the only outstanding issue. Senate Democrats are focused on ethics language barring government officials and their families from personally benefiting from crypto holdings. DeFi provisions and the potential attachment of community bank deregulation to the bill also remain unresolved.
The Calendar
The Senate was in pro forma session only through April 9 and returns to full session April 13. Senator Bernie Moreno has stated explicitly that if the bill does not reach the full Senate floor by May, digital asset legislation may not advance before the midterm election cycle. The CLARITY Act passed the House 294–134 in July 2025 and cleared the Senate Agriculture Committee in January 2026. It enters the banking panel with broad support — but a narrowing clock that leaves almost no room for further substantive revision.
