The Senate Banking Committee voted 15-9 to advance the Clarity Act, legislation designed to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets.
Key Issue: Throughout the debate, ICBA and community bankers have called on lawmakers to ensure the Clarity Act extends the prohibition on offering yield on payment stablecoins to affiliates, exchanges, and other digital assets intermediaries.
Updated Provision: Recently updated legislative language in the bill bars stablecoin yield that is “economically or functionally equivalent” to interest on bank deposits. While the language is an improvement over the original bill offered in January and reflects community bank advocacy, ICBA has made clear to policymakers that it falls short of a robust yield prohibition.
Latest ICBA Advocacy: ICBA and 44 state associations this week sent letters to senators saying a strong prohibition would prevent a flight of domestic deposits to global crypto conglomerates. Those messages followed a letter from ICBA and other groups calling on committee leaders to further refine the legislation.
Industry Response: In a news release following the committee vote, ICBA and other groups said the Clarity Act should be strengthened further by tightening the prohibition on interest-like rewards. “In that spirit, we will continue to work with senators in good faith to address this issue and improve the bill and its chances on the Senate floor,” they said.
Next Steps: ICBA thanks the community bankers who have responded to repeated calls for grassroots messages to senators on the Clarity Act. With the legislation now headed to the full Senate, ICBA will continue working to make further improvements to the bill and will keep ICBA members updated on the latest developments on the measure.