Which bill adjusts stablecoin yields?

TLDR

The GENIUS Act is the U.S. stablecoin law at issue, and ongoing Senate work on the CLARITY Act could adjust how stablecoin yields are allowed or restricted (GENIUS Act debate, CLARITY schedule).

1. GENIUS Act bans issuers from paying yield directly; exchange rewards are a contested loophole (bankers letter).
2. Proposals under discussion include yield only on transactions or limiting yields to OCC?licensed institutions (policy options reported).
3. Senate markup of the CLARITY Act will explicitly address stablecoin?linked rewards (committee outlook).

Deep Dive

1. GENIUS Act Loophole

The GENIUS Act prohibits stablecoin issuers from paying interest or yield directly. Banking groups say exchanges and affiliates still pass rewards to holders, undermining the intent of the law. See the bankers request to close this gap in a letter to senators (community bankers letter). Crypto advocates counter that payment stablecoins dont fund loans and tighter rules could stifle innovation (industry pushback summary).

2. Proposed Yield Adjustments

Two specific options are being discussed: restricting yields to transaction activity (not idle holdings) or allowing only OCC?licensed institutions to offer stablecoin yields. These ideas surfaced in bipartisan staff talks as committees converge on market?structure text (options summary; broader coverage of negotiations and yield focus in news reports (analysis)). Either path reduces DeFi flexibility and could shift yield offerings toward regulated channels.

3. CLARITY Act Timing

The Senate Banking and Agriculture Committees plan markups where stablecoin?linked rewards are explicitly on the agenda. The bills do?or?die window includes clarifying SEC/CFTC roles and the stablecoin yield issue (committee outlook; context on yield as a sticking point and banking lobbying (news summary)). The outcome will determine whether GENIUS stays as?is or is narrowed via CLARITY to constrain platform rewards.

Conclusion

In short, GENIUS sets the current baseline (no issuer?paid yield), and CLARITY is the vehicle likely to adjust practical access to stablecoin rewards. If Congress tightens the rules (transaction?only or bank?only), expect consumer rewards to shrink and DeFi designs to evolve toward more clearly separated payment and yield layers.