Coinbase Once Again Declines to Support Revised CLARITY Act

BlockBeats News, March 26th - The "Cryptocurrency Market Structure Clarity Act" (referred to as the CLARITY Act) once again faced opposition, this time from Coinbase. Representing Coinbase, this week expressed concerns in the Senate office, stating that they have not yet supported the latest version of the legislation. Coinbase raised significant concerns about the latest version's "Stable Yield Provision." This is not the first time Coinbase has pushed back on the stablecoin yield issue. In January this year, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong withdrew support for the legislation for the same reason, stating, "We'd rather have no bill than a bad bill."

The latest draft of the CLARITY Act explicitly prohibits crypto platforms from offering yields to stablecoin holders, whether these rewards are provided "directly" or "indirectly," especially when such rewards resemble interest-bearing accounts. The specific provisions include banning incentives that are economically equivalent to interest but allow for limited activity-based rewards.

This Act is meant to clarify how the United States will regulate cryptocurrency, with the provisions regarding stablecoin rewards becoming a point of contention. Banks have long argued that if stablecoins can offer rewards, it would lead bank customers to withdraw deposits from savings accounts and hold stablecoins offering higher returns instead. The cryptocurrency industry, on the other hand, views this bank stance as simply an attempt to evade competition.