A push to move the CLARITY Act through the Senate Banking Committee appears to be slowing again, after Sen. Thom Tillis said he wants more time for talks between the crypto and banking industries. Reports published on April 20, 2026 said Tillis urged committee chair Tim Scott to delay the markup until May instead of moving ahead in April. The main sticking point remains stablecoin yield and reward rules.
The delay matters because the bill has already cleared the U.S. House of Representatives. The House passed it on July 17, 2025, by a 294-134 bipartisan vote. However, the Senate still has not locked in final language on several issues, including how far lawmakers should go in limiting rewards linked to stablecoin activity.
At the same time, pressure is building from both sides. Banking groups want tighter restrictions, while crypto companies want room to keep some reward models alive. That split has kept the Senate from turning a broad policy goal into final legislative text.
CLARITY Act Delay Centers on Stablecoin Yield Rules
The latest dispute focuses on whether crypto firms should be allowed to offer users rewards connected to stablecoins. Under the related GENIUS Act, primary issuers are already barred from paying traditional interest on stablecoin holdings. Still, crypto platforms have looked for other ways to offer rewards tied to user activity. Banks argue those rewards can work like interest in practice, even if they use different labels.
According to reporting cited by the Bank Policy Institute, Tillis and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks reached an “agreement in principle” with the White House on yield language. A summary described there said crypto firms would be barred from paying “any form of interest or yield” to restricted recipients solely for holding a payment stablecoin, or in ways that are economically similar to an interest-bearing bank product. Even so, the text was still not public or final.
That unfinished language appears to be one reason Tillis asked for more time. In the reporting on Monday, he said,
“It’s very important to me not to accelerate things, to hear everybody, and give them a rational basis for what we do accept.”
That comment reflected his position that more stakeholder input is still needed before the committee moves ahead.
CLARITY Act Pressure Builds as Industry Groups Push Senate Action
While Tillis argued for a slower timetable, the crypto industry pushed the opposite line the same day. The Digital Chamber sent a letter to Senate Banking leaders urging the committee to move the bill to markup “as soon as the calendar allows.” The group said the process should continue in a transparent and bipartisan way, but it did not want markup delayed further.
The group also pointed to the time already lost. It said more than 270 days had passed since the House approved the bill and argued that over 70 million Americans who use digital assets are still waiting for clearer rules. Its message was direct: the Senate can keep refining the bill, but it should do so after moving the process forward.
Timing has become part of the story as much as the policy itself. In February 2026, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Congress should pass the bill in the spring and warned that the bipartisan coalition behind it could weaken if Democrats take control of the House in the November 2026 midterms. That political backdrop helps explain why some lawmakers want more negotiation now, while industry groups want the Senate to act before the calendar narrows further.
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Tatevik Avetisyan is an editor at Kriptoworld who covers emerging crypto trends, blockchain innovation, and altcoin developments. She is passionate about breaking down complex stories for a global audience and making digital finance more accessible.
📅 Published: April 21, 2026 • 🕓 Last updated: April 21, 2026
