Stakeholders Mum on Yield Details as Late-April Markup Expectations Build
Crypto and banking leaders who reviewed the latest compromise on stablecoin yield and rewards are staying tight-lipped but remain hopeful a solution has been reached
Welcome to the Monday edition of the Crypto In America newsletter!
What you’ll read: The tick-tock on stablecoin yield and the Clarity Act, what to watch this week, and the headlines you might have missed.
Senators have one more week of calm before returning to a storm of spring activity: confirming Federal Reserve Chair nominee Kevin Warsh, advancing a reconciliation package and, most important to the crypto industry, passing the Clarity Act.
As it stands, the key issue holding up the bill — a debate between banks and crypto over how companies can offer rewards on customers’ stablecoin holdings without triggering deposit flight — appears to be at an inflection point after a second round of meetings with Senate staffers late last week.
According to two industry sources who spoke with Crypto In America on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment, one from crypto and one from banking, stakeholders reviewed the latest compromise language Thursday, with banks briefed Friday. Neither would discuss details but said they were hopeful a workable solution had been reached this time.
The revised deal follows two months of tense negotiations that ended in industry dissatisfaction with a late-March draft from Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), and the White House, which some stakeholders, including Coinbase and Stripe, balked at.
A Stripe spokesperson declined to comment. A Coinbase spokesperson also declined to comment, though its Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal sparked some excitement following a TV interview last Wednesday in which the host said Coinbase had indicated “a deal could come together within 48 hours.” Asked if he believed that to be true, Grewal said he was “very confident” he would see progress.
So far, silence, and it remains unclear whether the Senate Banking Committee plans to release the deal text publicly ahead of a markup many expect Chair Tim Scott (R-SC) to schedule in the final two weeks of April.
Meanwhile, a White House Council of Economic Advisers study on stablecoin yield and its potential impact on deposit flight and bank lending has yet to be released, as Banking Committee members continue to press for its publication. Crypto In America first reported on the study last month after a Senate Republican meeting on market structure, where Tillis and others pressed White House Crypto Council Executive Director Patrick Witt to make it public.
The study is said to include economic analysis that leans positive for crypto in the debate over deposit flight. It’s not clear why the White House appears to be holding back the report.
If the yield issue is indeed moving to the back burner, it means Banking Committee staff and members, once they return, have the next two weeks to close out, as best they can, remaining issues related to DeFi, tokenization, and token classification. With time ticking down, ethics concerns may ramp up again as Democrats grow wary of an April 25 event for TRUMP memecoin holders at Mar-a-Lago, set to feature the president around the same time as a potential markup.
👀 What To Watch This Week
Monday
The House and Senate are out on Easter break.
9:00 a.m.: Vanderbilt University and the Blockchain Association will host the Digital Assets and Emerging Technology Policy Summit, featuring speakers including Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill (R-AR), Rep. William Timmons (R-SC), SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, and CFTC Chairman Michael Selig.
Crypto In America’s Eleanor Terrett will moderate a discussion with Reps. Hill and Timmons at 1:30 p.m. CT.
Tuesday
11:00 a.m.: SEC Chair Atkins will deliver a keynote at the Texas Stock Exchange’s “BOOM BELT” event in Miami alongside Govs. Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott.
1:00 p.m.: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) will hold a board meeting to vote on proposed stablecoin rules, as part of a broader push to establish prudential standards for issuers.
Wednesday
9:00 a.m.: Token Americas, a stablecoin and digital payments summit, kicks off at the University of Miami.
2:00 p.m.: The Fed releases its March meeting minutes, detailing policymakers’ latest views on inflation, interest rates, and the economic outlook.
Thursday
8:30 a.m.: Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE), the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, is out from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, tracking price changes in consumer spending.
The Commerce Department publishes its second estimate of Q4 GDP.
Friday
8:30 a.m.: CPI data, another inflation gauge, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is due. PCE and CPI data will test whether the Fed can keep holding off on rate cuts.
10:00 a.m.: University of Michigan preliminary consumer sentiment data due, offering a snapshot of how consumers view the economy.
Weekend News Flash
ICYMI: The biggest headlines from Friday and the weekend.
Drift Protocol said the $285 million April 1 hack was carried out through a months-long, targeted social engineering operation by North Korean hackers.
Bitcoin climbed toward $70,000 over the weekend on signs of possible de-escalation in the Iran conflict, plus a short squeeze that liquidated more than $270 million in short positions.
Todd Blanche, author of the DOJ memo that scaled back federal crypto enforcement, is now serving as interim U.S. Attorney General following Pam Bondi’s departure.
The CFTC sued Illinois, Arizona, and Connecticut over efforts to block prediction market platforms it says fall under its exclusive federal oversight.
The Treasury Department released a notice of proposed rulemaking seeking public comment on its implementation of the GENIUS Act.
Coinbase received conditional approval for a national trust charter from the OCC, joining Circle, Ripple, Paxos, and other crypto firms that received similar approvals in December.
Charles Schwab teased Bitcoin and Ethereum trading for customers is coming “soon” under a new ‘Schwab Crypto’ initiative and has opened signups for updates and potential early access.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says tokenized finance, where trades settle instantly, could reshape finance by cutting out intermediaries but may also accelerate market stress in downturns.
Remember, new editions of the Crypto In America newsletter drop every Monday and Wednesday.
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Why would they get tight lipped now? It’ll be a big song and dance once they announce the deal