Market Pulse: Crypto industry backs CLARITY Act yield compromise, pushes Senate Banking for markup

Across major exchanges, crypto trade groups called for a markup of key market structure legislation within hours of U.S.

Senators Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) releasing a compromise text Friday on stablecoin yield in the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, the final major sticking point in the bill.

The text bars crypto firms from paying interest or yield on stablecoin balances in a manner economically or functionally equivalent to a bank deposit.

It carves out rewards programs tied to "bona fide activities or bona fide transactions," and directs Treasury and the CFTC to write rules within a year of enactment.

Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger called the deal a step in the right direction.

"We commend Senators Tillis and Alsobrooks for their leadership in reaching this agreement," Mersinger said.

"Every day without a clear legal framework is an invitation for top-tier talent, capital, and innovative companies to locate elsewhere." The Crypto Council for Innovation endorsed the bill while flagging concerns.

Its CEO Ji Hun Kim said the new language extends the prohibition framework well beyond last year's GENIUS Act, which barred only issuers from paying rewards.