Sen. Thom Tillis Signals CLARITY Act Markup May Shift to May

• Senator Tillis tells Banking Chair Scott not to advance the CLARITY Act in April.
• Stablecoin yield dispute between banks and the crypto industry remains unresolved.
• White House crypto advisor calls continued bank lobbying greed or ignorance.

The Senate’s timeline for advancing major crypto market structure legislation has slipped, with Republican Senator Thom Tillis telling Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott on Monday that the panel should not plan to mark up the CLARITY Act in April.

Tillis, who has been leading compromise efforts between banks and crypto companies on the stablecoin yield question, said negotiators need additional time to finalize an agreement. He told Scott directly that May should be the target for a markup.

“It’s very important to me not to accelerate things, to hear everybody, and give them a rational basis for what we do accept,” Tillis said.

What’s On Hold?

The unresolved issue is whether crypto platforms should be permitted to pay interest or yield on stablecoins held in user accounts. Banks have argued this would draw deposits away from the traditional banking system. The crypto industry disputes that claim, and the White House’s own Council of Economic Advisers has published research finding no evidence of deposit flight from stablecoin yield offerings.

Despite that, the two sides have not reached a formal compromise, and Tillis has hinted he is unwilling to push the bill forward until they do.

The White House crypto advisor, Patrick Witt, was less diplomatic about the banking industry’s position. “Further lobbying on this issue is hard to explain as anything other than greed or ignorance,” he wrote on X.

Industry Pressure Is Building

The Digital Chamber, described as the United States’ largest blockchain and digital asset trade association, sent a formal letter to both Chairman Scott and Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren on Monday, urging the committee to move the legislation to markup as soon as the calendar allows.

The letter pointed out that the House passed the CLARITY Act with strong bipartisan support more than 270 days ago and that the legislative window for the current Congress is narrowing. The association argued that moving to markup is the clearest way to carry the extensive negotiating work already done into the next phase of the process.

“Doing so is critical to delivering the clarity that the more than 70 million Americans who have embraced digital assets deserve,” the letter stated.

What Comes Next

A May markup remains the working target according to Tillis, but that timeline is contingent on the banks and crypto industry reaching an agreement on stablecoin yield that both sides can accept. The longer those talks extend, the tighter the legislative window becomes heading into the second half of 2026.

Related: CLARITY Act Window is Now Open: Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse