The stablecoin yield dispute, the main issue delaying the crypto market structure bill, may be nearing resolution after a second round of meetings with Senate staffers, recent reports revealed, building expectations for a markup session by the end of the month.
Stakeholders Optimistic About Latest Compromise
On Monday, Crypto In America shared that the stablecoin yield dispute, the key issue stalling the highly anticipated crypto market structure bill, also known as the CLARITY Act, “appears to be at an inflection point after a second round of meetings with Senate staffers late last week.”
At the end of the week, the crypto and banking industries reviewed the latest language on whether companies can offer rewards to stablecoin holders without triggering deposit flight. Two anonymous sources, one from each party, told Crypto in America that crypto industry participants read the text on Thursday, while banks briefed on it on Friday.
According to the report, neither source discussed details on the latest version of the stablecoin compromise, but “said they were hopeful a workable solution had been reached this time.”
The latest deal follows the crypto industry’s dissatisfaction with the late-March draft. It’s worth noting that the two parties have been disagreeing over the potential prohibition of yield and rewards on stablecoin balances, delaying the crypto bill for nearly three months.
Last month, the crypto and banking industries reviewed the revised version of the CLARITY Act, which reportedly prohibited platforms from offering yield, directly or indirectly, for holding a stablecoin, or in a manner that resembles a bank deposit.
This restriction would broadly apply to digital asset service providers, including exchanges and brokers, as well as their affiliates. The text allegedly aims to limit workarounds and prohibit any activity “economically or functionally equivalent” to interest, addressing concerns from the banking industry side.
The proposal reignited backlash from major crypto players, including Coinbase and Stripe. Coinbase told Senate offices it could not support the updated draft, as the company had “significant concerns” about the latest stablecoin yield language.
However, Coinbase’s CLO, Paul Grewal, sparked excitement about the legislation last Wednesday after suggesting that Senate negotiators were “very close” to reaching a deal on the language.
Stablecoin Yield Final Text Release For Late April?
As Congress is out on Easter break, the Monday report noted that it remains unclear whether the Senate Banking Committee will publish the latest draft ahead of the bill’s markup session, which is anticipated for late April.
As reported by Bitcoinist, the text on the stablecoin yield compromise was first expected to be released ahead of the break, but in a shift from late March guidance, it has been delayed to the latter half of the month.
A spokesperson for Senator Thom Tillis’s office affirmed that the final text on the compromise between industry stakeholders and the Senate Banking Committee would be delayed due to concerns that releasing the text ahead of a markup “could give opponents an opening to slow the bill’s progress.”
Now, “if the yield issue is indeed moving to the back burner, it means Banking Committee staff and members, once they return, have the next two weeks to close out, as best they can, remaining issues related to DeFi, tokenization, and token classification,” which have also seen silent progress over the past few months, Senator Tim Scott recently said.
