CLARITY Act stalls as SEC plans roundtable

TLDR

The CLARITY Act, a major U.S. crypto market structure bill, has stalled over stablecoin rules even as the SEC schedules a digital asset roundtable.

1. The bill is stuck because banks and crypto firms cannot agree on how much yield stablecoins can pay, especially on idle balances.
2. At the same time, the SEC plans an April roundtable on how securities laws should apply to digital assets, signaling a parallel regulatory track.
3. For crypto users, this means continued uncertainty on token classification and stablecoin yields, but also gradual movement toward clearer, more formal rules.

Deep Dive

1. Why The CLARITY Act Stalled

The CLARITY Act is a U.S. market structure bill that would split oversight, giving the CFTC authority over digital commodities such as Bitcoin and the SEC authority over crypto assets deemed securities, while defining how a token can transition from security to commodity as a network decentralizes. An explainer describes this as a framework to reduce jurisdictional fights and make token launches and listings more predictable for exchanges and issuers.

According to a detailed community report, negotiations stalled after banks rejected a White House compromise on stablecoin rewards, which would have allowed crypto firms to offer limited 34 percent yields, especially for payments use cases, while banning incentives on idle stablecoins. Banks argued this could pull large sums out of deposits and weaken their funding base, while crypto firms saw yield as essential for competing in digital payments. With no agreement, observers now see a real risk that the bill slips further, potentially into 2026, despite having already passed the House.

2. What The SEC Roundtable Is About

In the same report, it is noted that the SEC has scheduled a roundtable for April 16, 2026 to discuss how federal securities laws should apply to digital assets and how to balance innovation with investor protection. This is a regulatory initiative, separate from Congress, but closely related to the themes of the bill.

Expect topics such as token offerings, secondary trading on exchanges, stablecoin structures, and how to treat tokens that may evolve from investment contracts into more commodity-like assets. The timing suggests the SEC wants to shape interpretation under existing laws while waiting to see whether Congress can deliver a statute like the CLARITY Act.

3. Why It Matters For Crypto Users

For crypto markets, the combination of a stalled bill and an active SEC process means the U.S. remains in a hybrid regime, with enforcement and guidance filling gaps while a statutory framework is debated. That affects:

1. Which tokens U.S. venues feel comfortable listing.
2. How stablecoin issuers can compete on yield versus banks.
3. How DeFi and token launches structure disclosures and governance.

If the CLARITY Act eventually passes, it could harden the SEC and CFTC split and give projects a clearer path from launch to sufficient decentralization. If it continues to slip, the SECs interpretations and roundtable output will carry more weight by default.

Conclusion

The current setup combines a stalled but significant legislative effort with an SEC that is still refining how it applies existing securities law to crypto. That keeps uncertainty elevated around stablecoin yields, token status, and exchange listings, yet it also shows that U.S. policymakers are converging on clearer frameworks rather than ignoring the sector. For crypto users, the key is to monitor how these processes resolve, since the eventual rules will shape which assets survive, where they can trade, and how much yield and innovation are possible within the U.S. market.