Recently, I’ve been paying attention to the progress of stablecoin regulation and found that the U.S. Congress has made a new breakthrough in this area. The CLARITY Act is a new proposal that makes significant amendments to the loopholes left by the earlier GENIUS Act, especially regarding stablecoin yields and reward mechanisms.

In simple terms, the issue is that the GENIUS Act prohibits stablecoin issuers from paying interest directly, but it doesn’t close the loophole allowing exchanges and affiliated platforms to offer similar yield rewards in the secondary market. The new CLARITY Act aims to fill this ambiguous gap. According to the latest agreement, any regulated entity offering rewards that function like deposit interest will be restricted. However, the bill still permits incentives based on platform activity, as long as they don’t cross the line into interest-like returns.

Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks have reached a consensus on stablecoin yield handling, removing a major obstacle in the legislative process and likely calming many disputes. Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association, highly praised this development, believing that resolving stablecoin yield issues will bring the bill closer to formal legislation.

Interestingly, industry opinions on this direction remain quite divided. A policy officer from a major exchange stated that Americans should be able to earn rewards based on the actual usage of crypto platforms. The platform’s legal officer also agreed, noting that many earlier controversies stemmed from “perceived risks,” rather than the system’s inherent operation. They believe that allowing activity-based rewards aligns with the stance of banking lobbying groups.

However, it’s still worth noting that there are many unresolved issues in stablecoin regulation, including tokenization, DeFi safeguards, and developer rights. Senator Tim Scott, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, mentioned that cryptocurrency legislation needs full support from the Republican Party to move forward. Committee hearings are expected to be held in May, and we will continue to follow subsequent developments.

Overall, this agreement is a pretty good progress, at least reaching some consensus in the key area of stablecoins. The U.S. aims to become a global leader in cryptocurrency regulation, and the advancement of the CLARITY Act is an important indicator.