CLARITY Act Update: Delayed Again?!

Yes, the CLARITY Act is on track for another delay. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) has urged the Senate Banking Committee to push its markup of the crypto market structure bill to May, with bank lobbying over stablecoin yield provisions once again in the way.

It is the third major slip of 2026. And with the congressional calendar tightening fast, every week lost is starting to matter.

Why is the CLARITY Act being delayed again?

The short answer is stablecoins. The long answer involves a lobbying blitz, a Fed chair nomination hearing eating up committee time, and a compromise deal that banks suddenly want rewritten.

Tillis told Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott to skip an April markup and aim for May instead. Tillis has been leading negotiations between banks and crypto firms for months and wants more time to finish the stablecoin yield language.

The committee has until Friday to notice a markup if it wants to hold a vote during the week of April 27. Most of this week is already locked up by the confirmation hearing for Kevin Warsh, President Trump's pick to replace Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair. That leaves almost no window for the CLARITY Act to move on its original schedule.

What are the banks pushing back on?

Stablecoin yield. Specifically, whether exchanges and third-party platforms can pay rewards on stablecoin balances.

The American Bankers Association has warned that allowing stablecoin rewards could pull as much as $6.6 trillion out of the traditional banking system. Community banks, with less balance sheet flexibility, are seen as the most exposed.

Tillis has been working with Senator Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) on a compromise. The current draft keeps a ban on rewards for idle stablecoin balances while allowing yield tied to transactional activity on third-party platforms. Coinbase and other crypto firms have pushed back against a total ban, arguing it would kill product development and hand foreign platforms an edge.

The compromise looked close to being settled in late March. Then the North Carolina Bankers Association and other industry groups began pressuring Tillis's office to reopen the deal. Banking trade groups are now reportedly lobbying other Banking Committee members directly, widening the pressure campaign well beyond Tillis and Alsobrooks.

What does this mean for 2026 passage odds?

Galaxy Research has flagged a hard deadline. If the Banking Committee does not clear the bill in April, the odds of passage in 2026 fall to near zero. A Senate floor vote requires 60 votes, meaning Democratic support is essential, and the August recess leaves almost no usable floor time after summer.

Polymarket traders agree the picture has darkened. Odds of the CLARITY Act being signed into law in 2026 now sit at 51 percent, down from a February peak of 82 percent when Trump endorsed the bill. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has already shifted his public timeline from April to the end of May.

The White House Council of Economic Advisers released a report earlier this month, finding that a full ban on stablecoin yields would boost bank lending by just $2.1 billion, or about 0.02 percent, while costing consumers an estimated $800 million. White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt went further, telling banks their continued lobbying could only be motivated by "greed or ignorance" and to move on.

Is a compromise still possible?

Tillis has floated what he called a "crypto palooza," an in-person session that would put bank and crypto representatives in the same room as senators rather than staffers. It could break the deadlock. It would also add time to a process that is already 270-plus days past the 294-134 House vote in July 2025.

The Digital Chamber sent a letter to the Senate Banking Committee this week urging a markup as soon as the calendar allows. Government affairs director Taylor Barr said more than 70 million Americans holding digital assets are still waiting for regulatory clarity.

What to watch this week

Friday is the functional deadline for the Banking Committee to notice an April 27 markup. If nothing moves by then, May becomes the working target. Beyond that, every additional slip eats into the narrow window before August recess and the November midterms.

Whether Tillis gets his room, or the banks get their rewrite, the "Delayed Again?!" headline keeps writing itself until someone actually calls a markup.

Sources:

• Crypto in America Primary reporting on Senate Banking Committee timing, Warsh hearing collision, and bank lobbying campaign details
• Unchained Galaxy Research passage odds, Garlinghouse timeline shift, and Tillis-Alsobrooks negotiation background
• Crypto.news ABA deposit flight warning, $6.6 trillion figure, NC Bankers Association pressure campaign, and Witt X post context
• CryptoSlate Full Witt statement, CEA report figures on bank lending and consumer cost, and stablecoin market size context
• CoinMarketCap Current draft language on idle balance ban versus transactional activity yield
• Polymarket Live prediction market odds on 2026 passage
• BitcoinEthereumNews Digital Chamber letter and Taylor Barr statement on regulatory clarity