ZeroStack CEO Daniel Reis-Faria said the latest compromise on stablecoin yield under the CLARITY Act has eased part of the uncertainty that has held investors back, but large institutions are still not ready to move in. In his view, the main issue is no longer the broad direction of the bill. It is how the rules will actually be applied over time.
Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks finalized the stablecoin deal on May 1. The agreement draws a firm boundary: crypto platforms cannot pay interest on stablecoins in a way that functions like a bank deposit, while activity-based rewards tied to payments and platform use remain allowed. Within hours of the deal, Polymarket odds of the CLARITY Act passing in 2026 rose from 46% to 64%.
Institutions are focused on how the rules will work
Reis-Faria said the compromise removes one of the larger reasons investors had been staying cautious, but he did not describe it as a decisive shift. He said the sticking point now is the lack of visibility into how the framework will be implemented and interpreted over time. That uncertainty, he argued, is what continues to keep larger players from stepping in.
The Senate Banking Committee is now targeting a markup during the week of May 11, with a Senate floor vote aimed for before the May 21 Memorial Day recess. JPMorgan had previously described passage of the CLARITY Act by midyear as a “key positive catalyst” for digital asset markets. Even so, the bill directs the SEC, CFTC, and the Treasury to jointly issue implementation rules within one year, and that waiting period is exactly the gray area Reis-Faria highlighted.
Several legislative hurdles still remain
Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger said the resolution on yield brings the industry meaningfully closer to comprehensive market structure legislation becoming law and urged lawmakers to keep the process moving. The path is still unfinished. According to the report, five steps remain: Senate Banking markup, a committee vote, clearing the Senate floor with a 60-vote threshold, reconciliation with the Agriculture version, and reconciliation with the House text.
Reis-Faria’s message was restrained. The latest development helps, he said, but it does not amount to a full turn in institutional behavior. Until there is more clarity, larger investors are still likely to stay cautious. The report also cited Standard Chartered, which estimated that uncapped stablecoin yield could pull as much as $500 billion in deposits away from traditional banks by 2028, a figure that helps explain why banking interests have resisted the proposal through the negotiations.