The two US senators negotiating a controversial provision in the crypto industry’s market structure bill – Republican Thom Tillis and Democrat Angela Alsobrooks – have reportedly agreed to a compromise that could advance the industry’s top priority to the next phase in the Senate.
The two were quoted by Politico as saying they have agreed in principle on an approach to the stablecoin dividend in the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, potentially knocking down one of the top outstanding issues in the sweeping bill. Still, no further details emerged, other than Alsobrooks reiterating that the dividend agreement would prevent rewards on passive balances of stablecoins.
Bankers had argued that stablecoin rewards on holdings of the US dollar-pegged tokens could closely resemble interest on bank deposits, and any threat to this core component of US banking could jeopardize lending. Both Alsobrooks and Tillis had agreed to find an approach that would not threaten the banks.
The White House reviewed the updated text of the law on Thursday, CoinDesk previously reported. White House officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday’s developments.
Industry insiders have told CoinDesk that they were aware of a new compromise, but have yet to see the text of the bill agreed upon by senators.
Although the stablecoin issue was at the forefront of the Clarity Act negotiations, there are still a number of other points to iron out, including the bill’s treatment of decentralized finance (DeFi), a corner of the sector where some Democrats had expressed unease over illicit financing.
Lawmakers have suggested in recent days that the Clarity Act could get a hearing in the Senate Banking Committee late next month. If approved there, it will move on to the Senate floor, though it must first be merged with a similar version already passed in the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Advocates have been hoping for a May decision on the years-long legislative effort. But Senate floor time is at a premium, and it’s under some threat from unrelated issues such as the Republican voter ID bill and the back-and-forth over the war in Iran.
