Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), a prominent member of the influential Senate Banking Committee, signaled on Wednesday that it might be time to hold a long-delayed vote on the Clarity Act—legislation aiming to formally legalize significant portions of the cryptocurrency industry in the U.S.
“I will request the chair to schedule a markup upon our return,” Tillis informed reporters this Wednesday, referring to the session beginning May 11 when the Senate reconvenes from its break. Last week, Tillis requested that Senate Banking chair Tim Scott (R-SC) postpone plans for marking up the bill in late April and proposed a vote in May to allow sufficient time for resolving outstanding disputes over crucial legislative language. Stakeholders widely agree that for the Clarity Act to have any prospect of becoming law, it needs to pass out of committee soon, especially with the November midterms approaching, which could stall Congressional activities.
A significant point of contention, moderated by Tillis himself, involves a clash between banking lobbyists and the cryptocurrency sector over whether crypto firms should offer incentives for stablecoin deposits—cryptocurrency tokens pegged to the dollar that were officially legalized under the GENIUS Act last summer.
This issue led Coinbase to retract its support for the Clarity Act in January, disrupting an impending Banking Committee markup. In the 14 weeks since then, despite the White House siding with the crypto industry over the dispute, a compromise remains elusive.
Although Tillis did not confirm that the stablecoin yield problem has been resolved today, he suggested that scheduling a markup could pressure a resolution.
“Without a forcing mechanism like a markup, those opposed will continue to raise additional concerns,” Tillis remarked. “It’s time to bring it before the committee and advance it.”
Yesterday, the White House’s chief crypto official, Patrick Witt, publicly disagreed with a leading banking trade group over this contentious issue—highlighting its ongoing sensitivity.
However, the Clarity Act faces other unresolved issues as well, including potential ethics restrictions on former President Donald Trump’s numerous cryptocurrency ventures and protections for software developers. This latter concern is particularly sensitive to senators focused on national security across both parties.
Earlier in the week, Tillis reaffirmed his dedication to addressing these concerns, telling Politico that the Committee “needs to address” issues regarding software developer protections and asserting he would withdraw from the bill if it lacks adequate ethics language.
A spokesperson for Tillis told Decrypt that the senator desires ethics provisions be included before a final floor vote but not necessarily before a committee markup. The spokesperson did not clarify whether these restrictions should apply specifically to the president when asked.
One cryptocurrency policy leader expressed optimism about Tillis’ recent engagement with the bill, although they acknowledged that it “very well could be” that the legislation fails due to one or more of these three significant unresolved issues.