CryptoSlate
The CLARITY Act's markup has moved past the stablecoin-yield standoff to a second-tier cluster of disputes that still threaten the timeline: Sen. John Kennedy's housing-frustration leverage, unresolved protections for noncustodial software developers, and the Republican vote math Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott has yet to close. A Tillis-Alsobrooks compromise ended the yield deadlock by allowing stablecoin rewards tied to platform usage and activity while banning passive yield on idle balances, removing the most visible policy fight without guaranteeing a markup.
Kennedy is now withholding support partly over frustration with the White House on the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, Punchbowl reported. His leverage is positional — he holds a vote Scott needs, and his price is movement on housing that Scott cannot deliver unilaterally. Scott has said publicly he wants "thirteen of thirteen" Senate Banking Republicans before moving to a bipartisan markup in May, a coalition test that has not yet been met.
Why it matters
Kennedy's posture shows that a crypto market-structure bill can still be held hostage by an unrelated legislative fight once the headline policy issue is resolved. The Tillis-Alsobrooks compromise gave Scott a substantive win on yield, but converting it into a markup requires holding together a coalition whose members now have other leverage. Software-developer protections remain the other unresolved item: the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act framework and Section 1960 language, which would carve noncustodial developers out of certain compliance obligations, are still under negotiation, with law enforcement raising AML objections to earlier drafts. Galaxy's April update flagged DeFi provisions, noncustodial carve-outs, ethics, and full Republican committee support as the live workstreams, and put passage odds at roughly 50-50 — sharply lower if the markup slips past mid-May.
Market impact
The bill's passage carries more weight for exchange economics, stablecoin monetization, and DeFi formation than for Bitcoin's investability.
Frequently asked questions
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What happens to the bill's chances if markup slips past mid-May?
Galaxy put passage odds at roughly 50-50 and said they drop sharply if the markup slips past mid-May, with a July window effectively closing the legislative opportunity for the cycle. Polymarket's 2026 CLARITY Act approval odds nonetheless rose 17 points in a week, from 47% to 64%.
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