The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act is gaining fresh momentum in the U.S. Senate as negotiators work to solidify a bipartisan compromise on stablecoin regulations.
Patrick Witt, the executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, told CoinDesk TV on Monday that a crucial agreement regarding stablecoin yield appears to be holding firm.
This consensus was a prerequisite for addressing other sticking points in the bill, which had previously stalled due to concerns from the banking sector.
“We’re hopeful that the compromise that has been reached will be durable and will hold,” Witt said, noting that resolving the yield issue was a “must-have” before the administration could pivot to remaining hurdles.
Navigating banking and political hurdles
CoinDesk TV reported that the legislation faced significant delays earlier this year after bank lobbyists argued that allowing stablecoins to offer interest-like returns could drain traditional bank deposits.
While White House economists recently released a report downplaying these risks, the American Bankers Association maintains that the government’s assessment is flawed.
Witt observed that the banking industry remains divided on the technology, stating, “They’re grappling with it. These are all important issues to their members. And, you know, some of them are going to view stablecoins more positively. Some are going to be a little bit more threatened by them.”
Legislators are also working through sensitive non-financial clauses behind the scenes. These include establishing illicit finance protections for the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector and addressing a demand from Democrats to prevent senior government officials, including President Donald Trump, from personally profiting from the crypto industry.
Witt declined to specify which of these secondary topics are now fully settled, but expressed optimism about the current pace of negotiations.
“All of these issues felt intractable and unsolvable at one point in time,” Witt said.
“So the fact that we’ve been able to close out a lot of them gives me confidence that we can close out these other ones, too.”
The bill must now pass a markup hearing in the Senate Banking Committee before it can be scheduled for a full floor vote.
