How the banking industry’s ‘rural America’ plea stalls the crypto bill

The crypto market structure bill, a.ka. the CLARITY Act may be delayed further to late February or March.

The Senate Banking panel, which handles the securities and SEC side of the bill, will shift focus to U.S President Donald Trump’s affordable housing agenda. 

According to a Bloomberg report, the shift to housing policy could delay the crypto bill by several weeks. 

The much-awaited market structure legislation first hit a wall after Coinbase pulled support last in mid-January, pointing out ‘too many issues’ like stablecoin yield prohibition.

A section of the crypto industry supported Coinbase’s “no bill is better than a bad bill” stance. 

However, the banking industry has remained adamant, opposing stablecoin rewards as a risk to its community banks and rural America. 

As such, the shift to housing policy may be seen as a way to buy more time for the two sides to reach a deal on key issues, especially the stablecoin yield. 

White House calls for a ‘compromise’

When asked about his position on the yield crisis derailing the bill’s momentum, David Sacks, the White House AI and Crypto Czar, said,

“I’m in favor of reaching a solution and facilitating a compromise so that we can get the market structure bill on the president’s desk.”

For Sacks, the bill was not “dead” yet. He cited the stablecoin bill, the GENIUS Act, that died ‘thrice’ but was finally passed.  

Patrick Witt, Trump’s crypto advisor, echoed a similar sentiment, adding that the bill was ‘inevitable.’ He urged the hardliners from the crypto industry, especially Coinbase, to not ‘let perfect be the enemy of a good bill.’ 

Source: X/Patrick Witt

As of writing, the details of such a ‘compromised’ deal between the two industries were not yet public. However, Trump was hopeful he would sign the bill into law very ‘soon.’

But the path forward for the bill didn’t really look ‘hopeful’, at least as of press time. 

Senate Agriculture fails to secure bipartisan support

After delaying its markup for two weeks to secure bipartisan support, the Republican-led Senate Agriculture panel is reportedly ready to move forward without input from Democrats. It handles the commodity and CFTC side of the crypto legislation.

In a statement, Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman (R-AK) vowed to advance the bill on the 27th of January.  

“Differences remain on fundamental policy issues. Although it’s unfortunate that we couldn’t reach an agreement, I am grateful for the collaboration that has made this legislation better. It’s time we move this bill, and I look forward to the markup next week.”

Without Democrats’ support, it will be hard to reach the 60 ‘YES’ votes needed to advance the bill out of the committee.

Final Thoughts 

• White House officials called for a stablecoin yield compromise to advance the crypto bill.
• The Senate Agriculture Committee’s planned markup faces uncertainty without Democrats’ input.