Senators Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) released compromise language on stablecoin yield within the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act on Friday, resolving what lawmakers and industry insiders had flagged as the final major sticking point in the bill. The supporting evidence appears in the cited X post.
Within hours, leading crypto trade groups publicly endorsed the deal and called on the Senate Banking Committee to schedule a markup without delay.
The compromise 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 tied to “bona fide activities or bona fide transactions” and directs the Treasury Department and the CFTC to draft implementing rules within one year of enactment.
Industry Unified Behind Advancement, With One Key Caveat
Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger called the agreement a step in the right direction. “Every day without a clear legal framework is an invitation for top-tier talent, capital, and innovative companies to locate elsewhere,” Mersinger said, urging lawmakers to move quickly.
Circle Chief Strategy Officer Dante Disparte offered unqualified support for the deal. Disparte, whose firm issues the USDC and EURC stablecoins, pointed to USDC’s expanding role in cross-border payments, capital markets collateral, and agentic commerce as evidence that a workable framework is urgently needed.
The Crypto Council for Innovation backed the bill while raising a pointed concern. CCI CEO Ji Hun Kim said the new compromise language extends the yield prohibition well beyond what was established in last year’s GENIUS Act, which restricted only stablecoin issuers from paying rewards. In a post on X, Kim wrote that the new text “goes VERY FAR beyond” the GENIUS Act by applying the ban to all digital asset traders and investors, not just issuers.
Kim said CCI disagrees with arguments that stablecoin adoption poses meaningful deposit flight risks to traditional banks, a concern that has driven some of the restrictions in the bill. Despite the objection, he urged the committee to advance the legislation.
“The north star is to ensure that the U.S. can lead on crypto.
We respectfully ask Senate Banking to move to mark up. The time is now,” Kim wrote.
What the Yield Framework Means in Practice
The practical effect of the compromise is that firms offering stablecoin reward programs will need to restructure them from a passive “buy and hold” model to one tied to active usage or transactions.
That distinction is meant to preserve utility-driven incentives while preventing stablecoin products from functioning as unregulated deposit substitutes.
The rule-writing mandate handed to Treasury and the CFTC gives regulators a one-year window to define what qualifies as a bona fide activity, which means significant interpretive work still lies ahead regardless of when the bill passes.
How broadly or narrowly those agencies draw the line could reshape reward programs across major platforms.
The CLARITY Act has been one of the most closely watched pieces of digital asset legislation in Washington, with stablecoin yield emerging as a fault line between banking-sector interests and crypto firms seeking competitive flexibility.
With the Tillis-Alsobrooks text now public and industry groups aligned, pressure on the Senate Banking Committee to act has sharpened considerably.
Not Financial Advice: This article is for informational purposes only. Crypto investments are highly volatile. Always do your own research.
