One Provision. One Lobby. One Deadline.
The CLARITY Act is substantially complete. Commodity classification for Bitcoin and Ethereum -- done. CFTC jurisdiction over digital commodities -- done. DeFi developer liability protections -- done. Stablecoin framework -- almost done.
The last holdout is stablecoin yield, and the American Bankers Association is spending everything it has to kill it.
The ABA's position: stablecoin issuers should be prohibited from paying any form of yield or return to holders. Their argument is that yield-bearing stablecoins function like bank deposits and would compete directly with checking accounts -- moving deposits off bank balance sheets and reducing lending capacity. The ABA estimates $2.1 billion in additional lending revenue from a full yield ban.
The White House's Council of Economic Advisers ran the same numbers and published the other side: that $2.1 billion in bank gain represents $800 million in consumer cost -- yield that stablecoin holders would have earned but won't. The net is negative for everyone except the banks.
Trump called the ABA out publicly, accusing the banking lobby of prioritizing its own revenue at the expense of American consumers and crypto innovation. Coinbase has withdrawn its opposition to the compromise framework. The industry is aligned. The only remaining obstacle is the ABA's lobbying operation.
Senator Thom Tillis and Senator Angela Alsobrooks have drafted a compromise: activity-based rewards -- yield tied to specific stablecoin use (like lending) rather than passive holding -- would be permitted. Passive interest would not.
Senate Banking Committee markup is May 11. Senator Bernie Moreno has been explicit: if the bill doesn't clear markup by Memorial Day, it waits until 2030. The banks know this. They're running out the clock.