Senator Angela Urges Banks to Compromise on CLARITY Act

Key Highlights

• Senator Angela Alsobrooks told bankers that they will likely have to accept compromises on the CLARITY Act
• She and Sen. Thom Tillis are finalizing a bipartisan compromise they believe will prevent deposit flight from traditional banks while still allowing crypto innovation and stablecoin growth to continue 

During the American Bankers Association (ABA) Washington Summit in Washington, D.C., Senator Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) shared a message for bankers on Tuesday, where she urged them to make some compromises on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act or CLARITY Act to ensure the bill finally gets official approval.

During the speech, Alsobrooks has indicated the difficult trade-offs ahead. She said, “I think I have to level set that all of us will probably walk away just a little bit unhappy. The compromise that myself and Senator Thom Tillis have been working on is one we believe will help prevent deposit flight and allow innovation to grow at the same time.” 

In clear words, she mentioned that no side will get everything it wants, but bipartisan progress is important for the financial sector. 

Senator Aims to End Fight for CLARITY Act Approval 

The CLARITY Act is a major new bill for the crypto sector that is expected to finally define clear rules for the crypto industry in the U.S. It would decide whether the SEC or the CFTC is in charge of digital assets, and create guidelines for stablecoins, DeFi, and trading. 

The main purpose of this bill is to make America the world leader in crypto while also protecting consumers and preventing illegal activity. The bill was supposed to be reviewed by a Senate committee in January, but it was delayed after backlash from the crypto community. 

One of the major points of disagreement is over rules for stablecoin yields. Traditional banks are raising concerns that if crypto products like USDC provide high returns, people will move their money out of regular bank accounts and into crypto. This could leave banks with less money to lend to everyday people and small businesses. 

In January, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong raised objections to earlier drafts. In January 2026, he withdrew support from the bill after saying that the bill contained “too many issues.” 

In the previous draft, there were rules that would effectively kill stablecoin reward programs. Apart from this, some clauses would overthrow the CFTC’s authority in favor of the SEC, impose strict DeFi prohibitions, and create a de facto ban on certain tokenized assets.

Armstrong stated, “We’d rather have no bill than a bad bill.”

Since then, Senator Alsobrooks and Republican Senator Thom Tillis have been leading private negotiations to find a fair middle ground with input from the White House.