Nikolas Sargeant
Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott says he expects to receive a compromise proposal this week on the stablecoin yield provision that has held up a broader crypto market structure bill in the Senate.
Speaking at a crypto lobby event in Washington, DC on Tuesday, Scott said he anticipated the first formal proposal landing in his hands before the end of the week, adding that if it does, the bill would be in "much better shape" to move forward. The Senate has been working to advance its own version of crypto market structure legislation since the House passed its equivalent, the CLARITY Act, in July.
The central sticking point is a provision that would ban third-party platforms, such as crypto exchanges, from offering stablecoin yield payments to customers. Banking groups argue such yields represent a loophole around the GENIUS Act, which already prohibits stablecoin issuers from paying yields directly, and that deposit flight toward higher-yielding stablecoin products could destabilize the broader banking system. Crypto lobbyists have pushed back, framing the proposed ban as anti-competitive protectionism from incumbent banks.
Scott acknowledged the yield issue is not the only unresolved matter, citing ongoing negotiations over ethics provisions, decentralized finance rules, and which entities fall inside or outside the bill's scope, though he said momentum across all fronts has been building over the past 30 days.
The Senate Banking Committee indefinitely postponed its markup of the bill in January, while the Senate Agriculture Committee, which oversees the CFTC side of the legislation, advanced its portion to the Senate floor the same month.
