An agreement in principle on stablecoin yield has been reached by Republican Senator Thom Tillis and Democratic Senator Angela Alsobrooks. The deal would prohibit rewards on passive stablecoin balances simply for holding a token, while allowing activity-based rewards tied to payments, transfers, and platform use. The talks describe the effort as months of work to protect innovation while preventing the deposit flight that banks argued would be caused by yield-bearing stablecoins. Final text has not circulated yet, and reviews with industry stakeholders are planned before any formalisation.
The yield question has been the single largest obstacle to the Banking Committee markup since January, and some Republicans discussed attaching community bank deregulatory provisions to the bill as part of a broader housing-legislation package. The deal does not resolve that political question, nor does it settle all substantive issues in the bill. DeFi provisions remain contested, and ethics language concerning whether senior government officials should profit from crypto assets has not been agreed. The agreement nonetheless clears the path to step one of five required for the CLARITY Act to reach the President’s desk, with the other steps including markup, a 60-vote floor passage, and reconciliations with other versions.
Senator Cynthia Lummis indicated the Banking Committee markup is targeted for late April, after the Easter recess. If the full Senate floor does not act by May, digital asset legislation could stall again ahead of the midterm elections. While the yield agreement shifts the content landscape, it does not alter the overall timeline or the clock for the broader process.
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