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Tim Scott: the main US crypto bill may move forward this week
The cryptocurrency bill CLARITY Act, passed by the US House of Representatives back in July last year, has still not passed the Senate. The main obstacle is disagreements over stablecoin yield. Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott said on March 17 that he expects the first concrete proposal on the disputed issue this week.
“I think that this week the first proposal will be in my hands,” Scott said at the DC Blockchain Summit in Washington. According to him, if this happens, work on the document will move to a new level.
What is the CLARITY Act and why it matters
The CLARITY Act is a US law designed to establish clear regulatory frameworks for digital assets: to divide authority between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), define the status of tokens, and set rules for market participants. The lower chamber of Congress passed it together with the GENIUS Act and several other crypto initiatives. The Senate must follow the same path — but the process is currently stalled.
As noted by analysts at QCP Capital, the adoption of the CLARITY Act could support sustainable growth of the crypto market — without the systemic shocks that erased the 2022 rally. Regulatory clarity removes one of the key barriers for institutional capital.
Stablecoin yield: banks vs exchanges
The key dispute concerns a provision prohibiting third-party platforms from paying yield on stablecoin holdings. Exchanges use this mechanism to attract users — effectively as an analogue of a bank deposit. The GENIUS Act has already banned stablecoin issuers from paying yield themselves, and banking associations insist on extending this ban to intermediary platforms.
The banks’ argument: if users move funds from deposits to crypto platforms for higher yields, it threatens the stability of the banking system through deposit outflows. The crypto market responds that such a ban is not consumer protection, but a tool of competitive pressure.
What else is holding it back
Scott acknowledged that stablecoin yield is only the “most publicly discussed” issue. Behind the scenes are disagreements over ethical standards for market participants, regulation of decentralized finance, and the question of who exactly falls under the new rules. According to the senator, noticeable progress has been made on these issues over the past approximately 30 days.
Procedural specifics add complexity: the bill affects the authority of both the SEC and the CFTC, so two committees are working on it simultaneously. The Senate Agriculture Committee approved its portion in January and forwarded it to the full Senate. Scott’s Banking Committee postponed its vote indefinitely at the same time.
If a proposal on stablecoin yield is submitted this week, the Banking Committee will be able to resume work on the bill. Over several months of delay, the CLARITY Act has become the main indicator of US authorities’ readiness to provide the crypto industry with clear rules of the game.
AI opinion
From a machine data analysis perspective, the dispute over stablecoin yield mirrors a debate from half a century ago. In the 1970s, the emergence of money market funds in the US allowed clients to earn returns unavailable on bank deposits. The banking lobby secured temporary restrictions — but did not stop capital flows, only redirected them. Ultimately, regulators legalized competition rather than banning it.
See also: "Well-known blockchain expert James Check predicted the trajectory of Bitcoin’s price in 2026!"
