Clarity Act advances toward key Senate markup

TLDR

The CLARITY Act, a major United States crypto market structure bill, is now moving toward a crucial Senate Banking Committee markup after months of deadlock.

1. Senate Banking has circulated draft text and is preparing a markup, potentially as soon as mid?May, after a compromise on stablecoin yield language.
2. The bill would create a federal framework for digital assets, clarify SEC and CFTC roles, and sharply restrict passive yield on stablecoin balances at exchanges and brokers.
3. Bipartisan politics, ethics provisions, and tight election?year timing remain key hurdles, even as polling and prediction markets suggest the bill now has better than even odds.

Confidence: high, based on multiple recent legislative and industry reports.

Deep Dive

1. Markup Timing And Status

Reports from multiple outlets say the Senate Banking Committee has circulated draft CLARITY Act text to select industry stakeholders and is preparing to notice a markup, potentially the week of 11 May, after repeated delays earlier this year. Crypto policy reporters and market structure coverage describe the committee as in the red zone with Chairman Tim Scott pushing for action before the summer window closes.

The breakthrough came when Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks brokered compromise language on stablecoin rewards, resolving an issue that had stalled progress for months and reopening the path to a committee vote. Prediction markets now put the probability of CLARITY becoming law in 2026 at above 50 percent, reflecting this renewed momentum.

2. What The CLARITY Act Would Change

Substantively, CLARITY is a broad market structure bill that aims to define which tokens are treated as securities versus commodities, allocate supervision between the SEC and CFTC, and create a registration regime for exchanges, brokers and other intermediaries.

The most immediate change for many users is the treatment of stablecoin yield. Draft language would prohibit interest like, deposit style yield on stablecoin balances directly or indirectly at issuers, exchanges and brokers, targeting products that compete with bank savings accounts. Some forms of rewards tied to activity, such as payments or trading based promotions, may still be allowed, but passive park and earn yield would be curtailed.

If enacted in roughly its current form, centralized platforms and parts of DeFi with US exposure would need to redesign yield products, while banks could gain an advantage if they issue compliant stablecoins under banking rules.

3. Politics, Odds, And What To Watch

CLARITY still needs 60 votes in the full Senate, which means real bipartisan support. Recent HarrisX polling of over 2,000 voters shows 52 percent support the bill and only 11 percent oppose it, with both Democrats and Republicans net positive, and nearly half of voters willing to cross party lines for a candidate who backs clear crypto rules.

At the same time, Democrats are pressing to attach ethics provisions that would require public officials to disclose digital asset holdings, and some senators remain skeptical of stablecoin and DeFi language. The White House has signaled a target of early July for passage, but missing the coming markup and pre?summer window could push the fight into a more crowded election calendar and lower the odds.

Conclusion

The CLARITY Acts movement toward a Senate Banking markup is the clearest sign yet that the United States may finally replace case by case enforcement with a dedicated crypto rulebook. The compromise on stablecoin rewards unlocks the process, but ethics disputes, procedural timing and the need for 60 Senate votes mean the bill is not a done deal. Over the next few weeks, the committee markup and any revised text will show whether Washington is ready to trade some popular yield products for a more predictable, nationally anchored framework for digital assets.