WASHINGTON–Advocates for credit unions on Capitol Hill expect some sort of compromise to eventually be reached in the Senate Banking Committee on the CLARITY Act, where a vote was delayed after strong pushback from a leading cryptocurrency company.
The markup session was removed from the committee’s schedule Thursday after Coinbase Chief Executive Brian Armstrong said the exchange could no longer support the current draft.
As The CU Daily reported here, traditional financial institutions have warned that giving crypto firms the ability to pay yields on deposits could lead to as much as $6.6 trillion flowing out of banks, credit unions and other providers.
Armstrong’s public withdrawal of support “after reviewing the Senate Banking Committee’s draft” heightened concern among Republicans and Democrats about the legislation’s prospects, prompting Committee Chairman Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) to delay the vote. Proponents had hoped to clear a path toward final Senate consideration this month.
Clarity Around CLARITY
The CLARITY Act—formally the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025—is intended to provide the first comprehensive federal framework for regulating digital assets such as cryptocurrencies, including whether tokens should be treated as securities or commodities and which federal agencies should oversee them.
Greg Mesack, SVP-advocacy with America’s Credit Unions, said the legislation is a high priority for Scott and he expects some sort of compromise will be reached on the issue of paying yields on funds. But he also does not expect it to be easy.
“He’s negotiating with a really good group of thoughtful folks on the Democratic side of the aisle, but I think it’s going to be very challenging to find middle ground between where the crypto folks are and the positions of financial institutions,” Mesack said. “They’re starting to run out of time.
‘Status Quo Doesn’t Work’
“We’ve got to compliment the chairman; they’ve made great strides by including credit unions in this discussion,” he added. “We’re going to be constructive and helpful as much as we can, because this is important for the economy and for consumers. The status quo doesn’t work. You have brand-new financial instruments that don’t really exist in our statutory and regulatory world, and we need to update the laws to reflect that.”
Scott Simpson, president and CEO of America’s Credit Unions, said the crypto industry wants to serve a highly regulated market without being regulated themselves, which has contributed to the impasse.
