CNBC Teases Deal Between Banks And Crypto For Long-Awaited Market Structure Bill

CNBC reported on Friday that a tentative agreement between banking and cryptocurrency industry representatives could be announced later today, potentially clearing a path for the long-stalled crypto market-structure legislation known as the CLARITY Act. 

Lawmakers Near Agreement On Crypto Bill

The network’s coverage, citing industry insiders and Capitol Hill chatter, said lawmakers in the Senate Banking Committee may have reached a compromise and are now positioned to schedule a markup and vote; the Agriculture Committee already completed a procedural vote in January.

According to the CNBC piece, discussions in recent days have intensified as stakeholders seek common ground on a range of contentious issues. 

One persistent sticking point is whether banks will accept proposed stablecoin reward structures. That question remains unresolved, the report said, even as other elements of the package appear to be coalescing.

However, a separate update surfaced Thursday evening from Eleanor Terrett, who quoted Senate staff saying negotiators were “99% of the way there on stablecoin yield,” and that talks over the digital-asset components of the bill “are in a good place.” 

The staff added that Senator Cynthia Lummis viewed the day’s meeting as productive and positive. Still, the language in both reports underscores that while momentum has built, the details are not finalized and could change as negotiators work through remaining points.

Bank Changes Into CLARITY Act

The negotiations have also taken on a broader legislative and political dimension. Politico reported Thursday that Senate Banking Committee Republicans are exploring whether to fold community bank deregulatory provisions—taken from a House-passed housing bill—into the CLARITY Act as part of a trade. 

The idea would be to include the banking-related rollbacks in the crypto bill in exchange for House Republicans accepting the Senate’s housing package as written. 

That proposal was discussed privately during a closed-door meeting on Thursday morning that reportedly included Trump administration officials and GOP committee members. 

According to Politico, the talks are fluid, and no final decisions have been made; proponents say such a swap could help secure House support for the Senate’s housing measures without further amendments.

Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com