《CLARITY Act》 Latest Draft: Prohibition on Yield Generation Solely from Holding a Stablecoin

BlockBeats News, March 24th, according to CoinDesk's report, on Monday, cryptocurrency industry members attending a closed-door hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., for the first time saw the latest provisions on stablecoin yields in the Senate's revised "Digital Asset Market Structure Clarity Act," with the initial impression that the relevant language was too narrow and not clear enough. The new provisions were introduced by Senators Angela Alsobrooks and Thom Tillis last Friday. According to a source familiar with the current draft, the new provisions will prohibit earning yield solely by holding a stablecoin, while also restricting any practice that would equate such a program with a bank deposit, and setting further limitations on other potentially allowed activities, with the specific mechanism for determining stablecoin rewards based on activities still unclear.

This compromise stems from lobbying between the cryptocurrency industry and the banking sector: the banking sector insists that stablecoin rewards should not resemble interest-bearing bank deposits, arguing that such competitive products could harm the banking sector and stifle lending. The eventual compromise allows for reward programs based on user stablecoin activities but not based on balances.

This closed-door hearing was aimed at pushing the Senate Banking Committee to schedule a hearing, which is a crucial step for the bill to move towards a full Senate vote. Similar versions of the "Clarity Act" were passed in the House last year, and another version went through the Senate Agriculture Committee's markup process. The bill's progress still faces other obstacles: parties still need to agree on a DeFi regulatory framework, and Democrats also insist on including a provision that prohibits high-ranking government officials from seeking personal gain from the cryptocurrency industry, a provision that appears to target former President Trump.