A significant breakthrough has been achieved in U.S. cryptocurrency market structure legislation after months of intense negotiations. Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks have reached a comprehensive agreement on provisions governing stablecoin rewards, removing a major obstacle for the advancement of the CLARITY Act in the Senate. The obtained text of the compromise imposes substantial restrictions on incentives and returns offered by stablecoins. The agreement explicitly prohibits all reward mechanisms that are "economically or functionally equivalent" to interest on bank deposits. This broad limitation is designed to prevent stablecoins from directly competing with traditional bank savings products, addressing long-standing concerns from the banking industry about "deposit flight."

However, the agreement avoids a blanket ban, instead retaining considerable flexibility. Stablecoin balances can still be used for reward programs, but they must pass an "equivalency test." This means cryptocurrency companies can provide user incentives under specific conditions, while high-yield models that mimic bank interest structures will be blocked. Coinbase Global, Inc. Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad confirmed this breakthrough on social media, revealing that the final text is now public. He stated that after months of negotiations, an agreement was finally reached between Coinbase Global, Inc., the White House, the Treasury Department, and Senate officials. "In the end, the banking side secured more restrictions on rewards, but we protected the most valuable aspect: the ability for Americans to earn rewards based on the actual use of crypto platforms and networks," Shirzad said, emphasizing that maintaining U.S. leadership in financial innovation is crucial in the current geopolitical environment.

This compromise serves as a pivotal lever for the entire cryptocurrency market structure legislation. The bill aims to delineate the regulatory authority of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over different segments of the digital asset ecosystem. With the stablecoin yield issue resolved, the legislative process is expected to accelerate significantly. It is reported that substantial progress has also been made in other areas of the bill, including token classification, regulation of decentralized finance, and asset tokenization. The final text of the CLARITY Act is anticipated to be finalized soon and submitted to the Senate Banking Committee for a vote. Concerns from the banking industry that stablecoin yields could divert deposits away from banks were a primary reason for the previous legislative stalemate. The newly reached agreement grants the banking system greater control while preserving core customer acquisition and incentive mechanisms for the cryptocurrency industry, marking what markets view as a pragmatic step toward clearer U.S. cryptocurrency regulation.