US CLARITY Act bill may be put 'on hold'…political gridlock and stablecoin yield debate loom as variables

The US Senate is pushing to pass the comprehensive digital-asset market-structure bill known as the “CLARITY (CLARITY Act.)”, but in Washington there is growing speculation that legislative progress has effectively been placed “on hold.”

According to Cointelegraph on the 2nd (local time), the House passed the bill last summer and sent it to the Senate, but the pace of deliberations has slowed amid a prolonged government shutdown, partisan clashes over ethics issues, and overlapping debates over whether to allow stablecoin returns (interest). The midterm elections in November are also emerging as an additional variable.

With the midterms eight months away, the commodities-focused parts of the bill cleared the Senate Agriculture Committee, but the Banking Committee, which handles securities-related provisions, has shown little progress after canceling a markup (amendment and review) session that had been scheduled for January.

Rebecca Liao, co-founder and CEO of Web3 and AI protocol company Saga, told Cointelegraph in an interview that the bill is “effectively on hold.” She said that when the crypto market was strong, even traditional financial institutions actively formulated digital-asset strategies, boosting demand for regulatory clarity, but as the market has cooled recently, momentum to advance legislation has weakened.

Liao added, “It’s not easy to get any bill through this Congress,” noting that a digital-asset bill—still an unfamiliar topic for most Americans—is even harder, and that being an election year adds to the burden.

Another factor further complicating Senate deliberations is the stablecoin yield debate. The report said at least three meetings were held at the White House between Trump administration officials and representatives from the digital-asset and banking industries. Some in the banking sector are concerned that if provisions are included to allow third-party platforms to pay yields to stablecoin holders, it could erode the traditional deposit base.

Cody Carbone, CEO of industry group the Digital Chamber, said after attending a related event that “some figures, including Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, were optimistic, but there wasn’t much in the way of a concrete timeline or detailed agreement.” While some senators have mentioned the possibility of passage in April, a specific roadmap remains unclear.

Meanwhile, the 2026 election season has already begun in some states. Primary schedules are underway in Arkansas, North Carolina, and Texas, among others, and the Senate is expected to return about two months before the election after spending roughly a month in August in their districts. Attention is therefore focused on whether the CLARITY Act can make meaningful progress before the election.