Stablecoin Yield Deal Removes Obstacle to Crypto Bill. What It Means For Coinbase

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A pair of senators have released a long-awaited compromise on a bill to regulate the cryptocurrency industry. It’s a big step forward, but there’s still significant uncertainty that the bill has time to become law this year.

Sens. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) and Angela Alsobrooks (D., Md.) unveiled the deal late Friday on so-called “stablecoin rewards.” The deal would be included in the so-called Clarity Act, a broad bill to regulate the crypto industry.

Under the proposal, crypto companies would be forbidden from offering yields on so-called stablecoins, which are types of tokens tied to the U.S. dollar, that look like yields on bank deposits. For months, banks have been fighting for such a prohibition, arguing that crypto firms’ yield programs might drain deposits from banks. The deal would let crypto firms still pay “rewards” when customers perform certain activities on their platforms, which regulators would determine later.

Coinbase Global runs one of the biggest stablecoin rewards programs, offering a 3.5% yield to some customers. Stablecoins have become an increasingly important source of profit for the company amid declining trading revenues. Rewards entice more customers to hold stablecoins, which are often a gateway into trading other cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin.

Coinbase referred a Barron’s request for comment to the company executives’ X posts.

“We’ve long believed that this issue did not warrant legislative changes. But whatever— we’re focused on getting a bill done and are satisifed that this language should not be the basis of any objection. Onward,” wrote Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal in a post on X.

The fight between banks and crypto firms has been raging since January and threatened to upend the bill, which broadly would move most crypto trading under the purview of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a long-stated goal of the crypto industry.

Though President Donald Trump’s administration has shown a light touch on crypto companies, some indutry executives fear that a future Democratic administration could return to the tough-on-crypto stance similar to the one taken by the Securities and Exchange Commission under President Joe Biden.

If the Tillis-Alsobrooks compromise sticks, it would solve a major problem keeping the bill from proceeding and could trigger the Senate Banking Committee to vote on the bill as soon as this month.

There are still significant hurdles to passage. The Trump family has significant crypto businesses, and some Democrats say any bill needs to carry a prohibition on the family from profiting from those investments. The White House considers that a nonstarter.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.

This past week, Tillis also said he wants to see changes to address law enforcement concerns around the bill.

The bill would need to get 60 votes to pass the full Senate, and a good indication of whether that has a chance will be how many Democratic votes it first gets in the Senate Banking Committee. Compromises on the other hurdles will likely need to be addressed before the bill gets a vote on the Senate floor.

The bill’s biggest enemy is the clock. This summer, members of Congress will ramp up campaigning ahead of the November midterm elections. Both the Senate and House of Representatives, which would also need to pass the bill, have full calendars with other must-pass legislation. If Democrats retake the House, which many analysts expect, they might hold off on passing a bill until they’re in power in 2027.

This week’s deal is a milestone, but no guarantee that a bill to regulate the crypto industry becomes law.

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