Clarity Act, in the flesh, unveiled by U.S. Senate Banking Committee before hearing - CoinDesk

ShareShare this articleCopy linkX iconX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmailClarity Act, in the flesh, unveiled by U.S. Senate Banking Committee before hearingThe crypto market structure bill had already been making the industry rounds behind closed doors, but the lawmakers have released the text before their vote.By Jesse Hamilton|Edited by Nikhilesh DeUpdated May 12, 2026, 5:05 a.m. Published May 12, 2026, 4:25 a.m. 5 min readMake preferred on Chairman Tim Scott's Senate Banking Committee unveiled the latest version of the crypto market structure bill known as the Clarity Act. (Jesse Hamilton/CoinDesk)What to know: The latest version of the Clarity Act was released by the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, revealing the details of the crypto market structure plans moving through Congress.The text — set for a committee hearing this week — wasn't expected to include any big shocks, reflecting months of debate and negotiation over stablecoin yield and the handling of the decentralized finance sector.The legislation that could fully insert the U.S. crypto industry into the regulated financial system has emerged in its latest form, with the Senate Banking Committee unveiling the market structure bill's text just after midnight on Tuesday in advance of this week's hearing that's set to push the effort forward. The latest version wasn't expected to offer many surprises for the crypto industry that's already had a chance to dig through it privately, but it includes still-contentious language on stablecoin yield and it maintains legal protections for decentralized finance (DeFi) developers, keeping that corner of the crypto sector happy (so far). Industry insiders waited for the release late into the night, and they'll still have to study the language to ensure their expectations were met. "This bill reflects serious, good-faith work across the committee and delivers the certainty, safeguards, and accountability Americans deserve," committee Chairman Tim Scott said in a statement. "It puts consumers first, combats illicit finance, cracks down on criminals and foreign adversaries and keeps the future of finance here in the United States." While an approval in the committee would mark a major, long-stymied step forward, the bill's arrival at President Donald Trump's desk is far from assured. Action this week would keep the possibility of passage alive, though a number of other hurdles remain — including the insertion of an ethics provision that isn't yet present in this draft. The conflict-of-interest section that would theoretically limit government officials from profiting from the crypto industry is not under the jurisdiction of the banking panel, so the topic has to get into the legislation later. It's been a contentious issue, because its genesis was seated in President Donald Trump's own wide-ranging crypto interests, but White House officials have repeatedly said they wouldn't tolerate a bill that targets the president. Meanwhile, Democrats won't allow the bill to move without such a section, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said last week at Consensus Miami 2026. On the same stage in Miami, White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt said the current negotiating posture is to establish rules that apply "across the board, from the president all the way down to the brand new intern on Capitol Hill," but reject anything that singles out a particular office or officeholder. The committee's ranking Democrat, Senator Elizabeth Warren, made clear that the ethics point is a priority, releasing a critical comment alongside the panel's unveiling of the document. "This bill puts investors, our national security and our entire financial system at risk — and it will turbocharge Donald Trump’s crypto corruption," she said in a statement. "In just one year in office, the president and his family have raked in at least $1.4 billion in gains from crypto deals alone, and yet this bill stunningly includes zero provisions to prevent that." That ethics piece, though, remains on standby until the Senate committee can vote to approve the rest of the bill at its Thursday hearing. The newly released 309-page text includes the patch of policy ground over which lobbyists spent months fighting — the question regarding what type of yield would be acceptable for stablecoins. The document restricts the payment of interest or yield "solely in connection with the holding of ... payment stablecoins" or on a stablecoin balance "in a manner that is economically or functionally equivalent to the payment of interest or yield on an interest-bearing bank deposit." Earlier on Monday, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong — whose company was at the center of the stablecoin rewards negotiation — held a live event on social media site X in which he said, "Not everyone got everything they wanted, but they got the must-haves." He said his company is working with at least five of the largest global banks and is committed to banks successfully integrating crypto, he said. "We want it to be win-win and work with the banks," Armstrong said. The outcome may have been settled for committee negotiators, but the bankers who consider stablecoins a threat have mounted a final assault to revamp the outcome. Over the weekend, the industry lobbying groups petitioned their members to make a last push among lawmakers to further limit stablecoin rewards programs in advance of the hearing. At the same time, research released last week from Galaxy contended that trillions of dollars worth of foreign capital will flow into the U.S. financial system, easily making up for any domestic disruptions to deposits. The report "suggests a majority of stablecoin growth will originate offshore, meaning foreign capital will flow into U.S. banking infrastructure at a rate that materially exceeds any domestic deposit migration." The legislation still includes a section to match DeFi's Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, which protects software developers that don't control people's money from being treated as money transmitters, plus a number of other demands from DeFi defenders. "We are encouraged by the direction of recent negotiations and note that the most important provisions for developers and infrastructure providers — the BRCA and protections under the Exchange Act — are in this bill," the DeFi Education Fund said through a spokesperson, adding that the organizations will track amendments this week and will flag those that oppose the sector. Meanwhile on Monday, Punchbowl News reported an accord among Senate lawmakers to address law-enforcement needs in the Clarity Act, specifically an allowance for prosecutors to pursue crypto misdeeds on the money-laundering front. The White House's Witt said last week that the administration is aiming for a July 4 finish for the Clarity Act, though Senator Gillibrand predicted its completion by the first week of August. Before then, Senate negotiators would still have some work to do on the bill after it advances beyond the committee. Assuming the Clarity Act gets a nod from the panel, it would still need to be merged with a similar version approved earlier by the Senate Agriculture Committee. Then the lawmakers also need to resolve the sticky conflict-of-interest provision before a final version is likely to be available for a vote from the overall Senate, where 60 yes votes will be needed — necessarily including a significant number of Democrats. So far, the progress through the Senate has been dependent on Republican party-line voting, but other crypto efforts have typically reached major bipartisan support when the final votes come around. Last year, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins of 2025 (GENIUS) Act succeeded on a 68-30 vote in the Senate, easily clearing the minimum.