The Senate Banking Committee voted 15-9 today to advance a market structure bill for digital assets, with two committee Democrats joining Republicans to pass the bill.
The Clarity Act would create a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. While the bill has drawn bipartisan support, several committee Democrats objected to a decision by Chairman Tim Scott (R-N.C.) to declare several proposed amendments not in order. Also, the American Bankers Association and others have urged senators to use the Clarity Act to close a loophole that allows digital asset service providers like exchanges to bypass the Genius Act’s ban on paying interest or yield on payment stablecoins.
The committee action marked “an important step” toward establishing a regulatory framework for digital assets, “a goal the banking industry supports,” said a coalition of financial trade associations in a statement. The coalition — which included the American Bankers Association, the Bank Policy Institute, the Consumer Bankers Association, the Financial Services Forum, the Independent Community Bankers of America and the National Bankers Association — added that “the banking industry continues to believe that the Clarity Act should be strengthened further by tightening the prohibition on interest-like rewards for holding stablecoin while also allowing certain payment stablecoin transactions and activities to generate rewards.”
In his opening remarks, Scott said the bill was the product of several months of good-faith negotiations between Republicans, Democrats and various stakeholders.
“This legislation does not take sides between traditional finance and new technology, or Republicans and Democrats,” he said. “It takes the side of everyday Americans. It brings digital assets out of the shadows and into a system that is safer, fairer and more transparent.”
Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Ma.) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) broke with their Democratic colleagues to vote to advance the bill. Alsobrooks also led a bipartisan effort to craft compromise language for the legislation.
The financial associations thanked senators, including Alsobrooks and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), for working to ensure that “the bill that cleared the committee include[d] several significant improvements over an earlier version.”
