TLDR
- Senator Bill Hagerty expects the CLARITY Act to reach the Senate Banking Committee in April
- The bill would shift crypto oversight largely from the SEC to the CFTC
- Stablecoin yield language has been the main obstacle, but industry leaders are now more hopeful
- Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott has not yet set a markup date
- Polymarket puts the odds of Trump signing the bill this year at 63%
Senator Bill Hagerty said Monday he expects the CLARITY Act to move through the Senate Banking Committee within the next few weeks, setting an April target for the crypto market structure bill.
Hagerty spoke at the Digital Assets and Emerging Tech Policy Summit at Vanderbilt University. He said the bill could clear the banking committee before the end of April if remaining issues are resolved.
“There’s still a lot more work to do,” Hagerty said, but added that none of the outstanding issues were “insurmountable.”
The CLARITY Act passed the House of Representatives in July under that name. It has faced delays in the Senate due to disagreements over stablecoin yield, ethics concerns, and pushback from parts of the crypto industry.
The bill proposes shifting oversight of crypto markets largely from the Securities and Exchange Commission to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Because both agencies are involved, it needs approval from both the Senate Agriculture Committee and the Senate Banking Committee.
The Agriculture Committee advanced its version of the bill in January. The Banking Committee still needs to hold a markup before a floor vote can happen.
Stablecoin Yield Dispute Moves Toward Resolution
The stablecoin yield question has been the biggest sticking point. Crypto companies, including Coinbase, had opposed earlier language that placed a broad ban on stablecoin rewards.
Crypto and banking industry sources told Crypto in America last week that both sides reviewed new stablecoin yield text and are cautiously hopeful a deal can be reached. Neither side has disclosed what the updated language says.
Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said he was confident a deal would be reached. He told reporters last week that lawmakers were “close to a deal” on the remaining issues.
Markup Date Still Unknown
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott has not yet scheduled a date for the markup. The committee has also not said whether it plans to release a new draft to the public.
Pro-crypto Senator Cynthia Lummis has hinted a markup could happen this month. But pro-XRP lawyer and Senate candidate John Deaton warned that if the bill stalls until summer, Congress will likely shift focus to midterm elections and the bill could fail.
Hagerty acknowledged the political clock. “If we get this done in April, we can clearly get this taken care of before the midterms,” he said.
Crypto-aligned political action committees are already preparing for 2026. Fairshake reported a $193 million war chest for the November midterms. The Fellowship PAC, which says it raised over $100 million from crypto-aligned backers, named Tether executive Jesse Spiro as chair this week.
Polymarket currently puts the odds of Trump signing the CLARITY Act into law in 2025 at 63%, though those odds recently dipped as low as 50%.
