Sen. Lummis Sees CLARITY Act Markup in Late April, Full Senate Vote Possible by Year-End

Legislative momentum around U.S. crypto policy accelerated in Washington this week as lawmakers and industry executives gathered for the DC Blockchain Summit. Sen. Cynthia Lummis said she expects the Senate Banking Committee to finally schedule a long-awaited markup of the crypto market-structure bill known as the CLARITY Act for late April. Lummis told attendees she believes the committee will advance the bill and that a full Senate vote could follow before the end of the year. "We're gonna have this thing done come hell or high water by the end of the year," she said. She also indicated the Republican-led markup is likely to take place in the second half of April after the Easter recess. One of the most contentious sticking points has been stablecoin "yield." Banking advocates have argued that yield-bearing stablecoin products could resemble deposit interest and draw funds away from traditional deposit accounts. Lummis said negotiators have drafted language designed to prevent crypto platforms from marketing or delivering rewards in ways that mimic bank deposit yield or that increase based on the size of a user's holdings. "Anything that sounds like banking product terminology will not appear," she said, adding she had not reviewed the latest draft but noted Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has signaled openness to compromise. Lummis also said negotiators believe remaining issues tied to decentralized finance have largely been resolved. "We think we've got the DeFi issue put to bed," she said, pointing to ongoing efforts to define how peer-to-peer (P2P) activity and protocol-level services should be regulated. On social media, Lummis highlighted what she described as a favorable political window, writing that there has "never been a more pro-digital asset administration in United States history than @POTUS," and urging lawmakers to capitalize on the moment to complete market-structure reforms. Additional updates from Crypto in America suggested talks are moving quickly. Journalist Eleanor Terrett reported that Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott said at the summit he expected to have "the first proposal" on stablecoin yield by the end of the week. Scott credited Sens. Angela Alsobrooks and Thom Tillis, along with Patrick Witt, executive director of the White House Crypto Council, with helping bridge negotiations between the banking and crypto sectors. Scott also said the committee is making progress on DeFi, ethics, and quorum matters. He added that some Democratic concerns are being addressed through a proposal to include minority-party representation at the SEC and CFTC, a step intended to strengthen bipartisan backing. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com