CoinDesk
The White House is targeting July 4 for Congress to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, Patrick Witt — executive director of the President's Council of Advisors for Digital Assets — said Wednesday at CoinDesk's Consensus Miami conference. The path runs through a Senate Banking Committee markup this month, four working Senate weeks in June for floor passage, and a final House vote before the Independence Day deadline. "There's not a lot of slack left in the rope right now," Witt said, "but it is an achievable timeline."
Why it matters
The near-term friction on the bill was the stablecoin-yield provision, and Witt declared that fight effectively over after a compromise between Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) was released in early May. The text bans bank-deposit-equivalent yield on stablecoins while preserving rewards tied to spending — language the White House brokered between banks and crypto firms before handing it to the senators. "Crypto is unhappy, banks are unhappy, but they're both about equally unhappy," Witt said, calling the stalemate a feature rather than a bug. A second open item, the conflict-of-interest amendment Democrats have pushed in response to President Donald Trump's crypto exposure, is now framed as a universal ethics rule rather than a single-office prohibition.
Market impact
If the schedule holds, the U.S. gets a comprehensive digital-asset market-structure law on a faster timeline than Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's August prediction earlier the same day. Witt cast delay as a strategic cost, arguing that a missed 2026 window would leave Washington following rules written elsewhere — "God forbid it's China." Alongside Clarity, the GENIUS Act's implementing rules from Treasury, the OCC, and the FDIC are tracking toward a one-year July deadline, putting the U.S. stablecoin and market-structure frameworks on the same completion arc this summer.
Frequently asked questions
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What is the Clarity Act and what would it do?
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act is the U.S. market-structure bill that would assign oversight of digital assets between the SEC and CFTC and set rules for trading, custody, and token issuance. The House passed a version in 2025; the Senate is now negotiating its own text.
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Why is July 4 the target date for passage?
Patrick Witt said the administration wants the bill on the president's desk by Independence Day, framing it as a 250th-anniversary milestone. The path is a Senate Banking markup this month, four working Senate weeks in June for floor passage, and a final House vote before the deadline.
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What is the stablecoin-yield compromise in the bill?
Sens. Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks released a deal in early May that bans bank-deposit-equivalent yield on stablecoins while preserving rewards tied to spending activity. The White House brokered the language between banks and crypto firms, then handed it to the senators.
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What is the conflict-of-interest fight about?
Democrats have pushed an ethics provision responding to President Trump's personal crypto exposure. Witt said the administration will accept a rule that applies "across the board" from the president to a Capitol Hill intern, but will reject any amendment that singles out a specific office, officeholder, or family.
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What happens if Clarity doesn't pass in 2026?
Witt argued that a missed window leaves the U.S. as a rule-taker rather than a rule-maker. He said the country would end up following standards written elsewhere — explicitly naming China as the country he'd most dislike setting them — and tied U.S. leadership on digital-asset rules to broader American economic…
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