Armstrong defends CLARITY Act stablecoin yield deal

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the CLARITY Act gave banks their must-haves as the Senate released its 309-page bill text.

Summary

• Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott released the 309-page CLARITY Act substitute text on May 12, scheduling a markup for May 14.
• Brian Armstrong said in an X livestream that not everyone got everything they wanted, but the core priorities were preserved in the bill.
• Five major US banking groups jointly rejected the stablecoin yield compromise on the eve of the markup, calling the deal insufficient.

The Senate Banking Committee released the 309-page substitute text of the CLARITY Act on May 12, setting a committee markup for May 14 at 10:30 am. The bill defines which digital assets fall under the SEC and which belong to the CFTC, a question the US crypto industry has been pushing Congress to answer for years.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said in an X livestream on May 12 that the compromise preserved the industry’s core asks. “Not everyone got everything they wanted, but they got the must-haves,” he said, adding that Coinbase is working with at least five of the largest global banks on crypto integration.

Why banks are still pushing back

Five major banking groups, including the American Bankers Association and the Bank Policy Institute, issued a joint statement rejecting the stablecoin yield compromise brokered by Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks. The groups argued that Section 404 of the bill still permits yield-like rewards that compete with bank deposits.

“Research demonstrates that yield-earning stablecoins could reduce all consumer, small-business, and farm loans by one-fifth or more,” the coalition said. The compromise bans passive yield paid solely for holding stablecoins while permitting activity-based rewards tied to payments and platform use.

Senator Cynthia Lummis responded on X that the finalized text is “the culmination of months of hard work.” Senator Tillis went sharper, warning that certain factions in traditional finance may simply oppose any version of the CLARITY Act and are using the yield debate to stall it entirely.

The stakes around the May 14 markup

The CLARITY Act cleared the House 294 to 134 in July 2025 and passed the Senate Agriculture Committee in January 2026. The Banking Committee markup is the next required step before a full Senate floor vote, which needs 60 votes to advance.

Senators Lummis and Bernie Moreno have both warned that missing the May 21 Memorial Day recess window risks pushing comprehensive crypto legislation off the calendar entirely. Prediction markets currently price the bill’s odds of becoming law in 2026 at over 60%. The White House has set a July 4 target for a presidential signature.