In a major development, a Republican senator has told Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott to delay the markup for the crypto market structure bill also known as CLARITY Act until May.
As per reports, Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina told Monday that he does not expect the Senate Banking Committee to take up the CLARITY Act in April. He has recommended Scott schedule the markup for next month instead. Tillis has been leading negotiations between crypto and banking members on the committee and made clear to Scott that moving too fast would be a mistake.
“It’s very important to me not to accelerate things, to hear everybody, and give them a rational basis for what we do accept,” Tillis told Scott, as per reports.
The CLARITY Act passed the House of Representatives in July 2025 with a bipartisan vote of 294 to 134. Progress in the Senate has slowed considerably since then, with disputes stablecoin yield restrictions.
Without a markup, the bill cannot receive committee approval, and without committee approval, there is no Senate floor vote.
On Monday, the Digital Chamber sent a letter to the Senate Banking Committee urging members to bring the market structure bill to markup as soon as the calendar allows.
The same day, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s earlier warnings are looking increasingly relevant. Speaking in March, Bessent said that if Democrats were to take the House after the November midterms, the chances of passing the bill would collapse entirely. Earlier this month, Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal had hinted that the CLARITY Act stablecoin yield dispute was close to resolution. The dispute centers on whether users should be allowed to earn returns on their stablecoin holdings with many banks opposing it.
