Clarity Act Faces 10-Week Runway as August Deadline Nears
With a Senate Banking markup now expected in May, crypto watchers are keeping a close eye on the legislative calendar
Welcome to the Monday edition of the Crypto In America newsletter!
What you’ll read: Clarity Act latest, what to watch this week, and the weekend news you might have missed.
With a Clarity Act markup now expected in May, the crypto industry is doing the math on how much time is left to pass comprehensive market structure legislation as the legislative window narrows.
“We have about 13 weeks left on the [Senate] floor to get something done,” Ji Kim, CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation, told Crypto In America, underscoring what many in Washington see as the real deadline: getting a bill to President Trump’s desk before the August recess, when lawmakers turn their attention to the midterm elections.
While Kim pointed to roughly 13 weeks, the real runway is tighter. Once recesses are factored in, the Senate has closer to nine or ten working weeks to move the bill, as lawmakers juggle a packed agenda that includes a looming FISA deadline, a budget resolution to kick off reconciliation, and must-pass funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
But first, the bill must make it out of the Senate Banking Committee, where it has stalled since January after an initial markup was postponed when key industry support fell through. Now, hopes for an April markup have faded after Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) pushed Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) for more time to present the compromise on stablecoin yield and rewards to bankers.
“It’s very important to me not to accelerate things, to hear everybody and give them a rational basis for what we do accept and what we don’t accept,” Tillis told reporters last week.
Tillis’ push for more time comes as banking groups, including the North Carolina Bankers Association, have ramped up outreach to his office in recent days, warning against any loopholes that would allow yield-like rewards, while crypto firms are urging leadership to move forward.
On Friday, the North Carolina Blockchain Initiative urged Tillis to move the Clarity Act to markup, pushing back on bank opposition to yield and arguing the bill is key to keeping the state competitive as a major U.S. banking hub. Meanwhile, more than 120 crypto firms signed onto a separate push led by the Blockchain Association and the Crypto Council for Innovation urging leadership to move forward with a markup “as soon as practicable.”
During an appearance at the annual Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas on Monday, Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) told attendees to expect a Clarity Act markup in May. With the Senate heading into a weeklong recess starting Thursday, the earliest the Senate Banking Committee could mark up the bill is the week of May 11, if outstanding issues around stablecoin yield, ethics and DeFi are resolved in time.
Asked whether the remaining issues could be resolved quickly once a stablecoin yield compromise is finalized, Kim said he was optimistic. “I think it’ll go pretty quickly actually. Obviously rewards is an important issue… but the other open issues are still being discussed in parallel.”
In the meantime, the Senate Banking Committee is expected to turn its attention to confirming pro-crypto Fed Chair nominee Kevin Warsh before leaving for recess. The committee is set to advance Warsh’s nomination to the full Senate on Wednesday, the same day Jerome Powell announces the Fed’s next interest rate decision, with markets expecting rates to hold at 3.5% to 3.75%.
👀 What To Watch This Week
Monday
The annual Bitcoin Conference kicks off a three-day event in Las Vegas with remarks from Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche at 1:30 p.m. ET, CFTC Chairman Michael Selig at 2:00 p.m. ET, and a keynote from SEC Chair Paul Atkins at 2:20 p.m. ET.
Tuesday
Galaxy Digital (GLXY) reports earnings before the opening bell.
10:00 a.m.: We get a read on the consumer when the Conference Board releases its consumer confidence index.
Visa (V) and Robinhood (HOOD) report earnings after the closing bell.
Wednesday
BitGo’s High Roller Summit kicks off in Las Vegas.
10:00 a.m.: The Senate Banking Committee will vote to advance Kevin Warsh’s nomination to lead the Federal Reserve.
2:00 p.m.: The Federal Reserve will announce its next interest rate decision, followed by remarks from Chairman Powell at 2:30 p.m. Markets expect the committee to hold rates steady at 3.5% to 3.75%.
Thursday
The XRP Las Vegas Conference begins.
Mastercard (MA) reports earnings before the opening bell.
8:00 a.m.: House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill (R-AR) will take part in a fireside chat with the president and CEO of the Independent Community Bankers of America.
8:30 a.m.: The Commerce Department releases Q1 GDP and Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) data.
Riot Platforms (RIOT) reports earnings after the closing bell.
Friday
WisdomTree (WT) reports earnings before the opening bell.
Weekend News Flash
ICYMI: The biggest headlines from Friday and the weekend.
President Donald Trump addressed crypto and reiterated his support for passing the Clarity Act in a speech to top holders of his TRUMP meme coin at a conference at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday.
Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) said he’s prepared to move forward with Kevin Warsh’s nomination for Fed chair after the Justice Department dropped its probe into Jerome Powell.
The DeFi Education Fund and more than two dozen industry leaders urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a letter to formalize guidance distinguishing user interfaces from broker-dealer activity.
The Blockchain Association and the Crypto Council for Innovation led more than 120 crypto firms in a letter to the Senate Banking Committee urging a markup of the Clarity Act as soon as possible. The Digital Chamber sent a separate letter.
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire made TIME’s Most Influential People of 2026 list.
Tether’s USDT reached a new all-time high market cap of $189 billion.
Morgan Stanley launched the Stablecoin Reserves Portfolio, a government money market fund aimed at providing stablecoin issuers with a regulated, low-risk place to hold reserve assets.
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