The White House is circulating stablecoin bill language to Sen. Tillis’s office as CLARITY Act negotiations enter a make-or-break phase over yield restrictions.
The CLARITY Act is alive. Barely. And Washington knows it.
The White House has shared fresh legislative text with Senator Thom Tillis’s office, the result of weeks of back-channel negotiations between crypto firms and traditional banks. Tillis, the North Carolina Republican, was shaping up to be a Republican holdout back in January when the Senate Banking Committee was preparing for a markup session. That session never happened.
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Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett reported on X that Tillis’s office has been meeting with both industry representatives and White House officials in recent days. Talks, per Terrett’s sources, are described as “moving in the right direction.” That is about as encouraging as Washington gets these days.
Tillis Holds the Key to a Senate Vote
The sticking point traces back to yield. Amendments from Tillis and Senator Angela Alsobrooks that narrowed the scope of stablecoin rewards issued by crypto firms drew sharp pushback from Coinbase. The exchange cited those amendments as one of several reasons it pulled support for the bill.
Cody Carbone, CEO of the Digital Chamber, told Eleanor Terrett on X that Tillis has been open to discussions around stablecoin yield. Carbone said the Chamber remains hopeful that a path to a yes vote exists, and that Tillis’s effort to advance market structure rules deserves recognition.
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The bill can still pass along party lines even without Democratic votes, the reporting indicates. But Tillis’s support becomes non-negotiable if no Democrats cross the aisle.
DeFi Issues Left Waiting in Line
The yield debate has pulled so much attention away from other parts of the bill that separate issues, mostly around DeFi, have gone largely unaddressed. One DeFi leader involved in market structure negotiations told Terrett the yield fight has “taken a lot of oxygen out of the room.” Senate Democrats are now reportedly scrambling to revisit those remaining concerns. Ethics questions tied to some Democratic members are also expected to stay on the table.
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One crypto trade executive told Terrett they are now weighing alternatives if a Senate Banking markup slips further into the calendar year. Still, the same source described the mood as “cautiously optimistic” that the next three weeks could produce enough progress to reschedule a markup in late March.
Not everyone is satisfied with how the process is unfolding. X user madave_lui posted a pointed question in response to the report: “Since when are the banks the government? Why do they even have a say in the CLARITY Act?” The post touched on broader frustration among retail crypto observers who see bank lobbying as a bottleneck in what should be industry-forward legislation.
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Terrett’s earlier reporting had flagged that there may never be a clean breakthrough moment between the crypto sector and traditional banking. The current approach, drafting language around the minimum both sides can tolerate, seems to confirm that. The goal now is to get something workable back to the Banking Committee fast enough to restart the markup process before the legislative window closes.
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Three weeks. That is roughly the window industry sources believe exists before the CLARITY Act either inches forward or stalls again.
