Coinbase, White House Clash Over CLARITY Act Yield

Senate Banking postponed its planned Jan. 15 markup of the CLARITY Act, delaying Senate action on H.R. 3633 as negotiations continue over language that could determine whether stablecoin rewards are treated as deposit-like yield.

Markup postponed after House passage

The committee’s Jan. 15 executive session was marked “POSTPONED” on its schedule, and no replacement date was listed.

Chairman Tim Scott said the markup would be delayed “as bipartisan negotiations continue,” adding that “everyone remains at the table working in good faith.”

The House approved H.R. 3633 by a 294-134 vote on July 17, 2025.

It was received in the Senate on Sept. 18, 2025 and referred for consideration.

Coinbase pulls back support over stablecoin rewards

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said “draft amendments” would “kill rewards on stablecoins,” adding that Coinbase would “rather have no bill than a bad bill.”

Banks have argued that reward-bearing stablecoins can function like deposits.

The article cited concerns that some tokens pay reward rates resembling high-yield deposits around 3.5%.

White House pressure claims and public dispute

Reporter Eleanor Terrett posted that an unnamed source claimed the White House was considering pulling support unless Coinbase returned to negotiations with an agreement on yield that satisfies banks.

Armstrong disputed that characterization in a reply, writing:

“In general, love your posts, but this is not accurate. The White House has been super constructive here. They did ask us to see if we can go figure out a deal with the banks, which we’re currently working on. Actually, we’ve been cooking up some good ideas on how we can help the community banks specifically in this bill, since that’s what this is about…..the community banks, right? More coming soon.”