Signs of life for the stalled CLARITY Act: after a closed-door Thursday meeting, Republican senators left cautiously optimistic that negotiators are finally closing in on a solution for one of the bill’s toughest issues — stablecoin rewards.
What happened
- The meeting, which included pro-crypto Senator Cynthia Lummis and other Republican members, focused on stablecoin yield and broader digital-asset language in the crypto market-structure bill. Attendees described a shift in momentum.
- Lummis told colleagues she experienced a change of perspective, saying “some major light bulbs were switched on” and that a path forward emerged she hadn’t expected when she arrived.
- Senate staff later told reporters, “We’re 99% of the way there on stablecoin yield, and negotiations on the digital asset portions of the bill are in a good place.” They added that Lummis found the meeting “very productive and positive.”
Outstanding issues and potential trade
- Lawmakers also heard concerns about housing policy and community banking, and Lummis is said to be working to address those issues.
- Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee have reportedly discussed a possible trade: fold community bank deregulatory provisions into the crypto market-structure bill in exchange for House acceptance of the Senate’s housing package as-is. That idea was raised at Thursday’s gathering, but participants stressed talks are fluid and no decisions have been made.
- Even if Senate Republicans pursue the swap, its success is uncertain: House Republicans continue to press multiple objections to the Senate housing text, and it’s unclear whether they would accept such a trade.
Why it matters
If negotiators can finalize stablecoin yield language and resolve the housing and community bank disputes, the CLARITY Act could move forward and bring long-awaited regulatory clarity to the crypto sector — especially for stablecoin issuers and platforms that offer yields. But significant legislative horse-trading remains, and acceptance in the House is no sure thing.
Reporting: Eleanor Terrett (Washington) and Politico.
Featured art: OpenArt; chart: TradingView.com.
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