Coinbase Policy Chief Sees May Senate Vote on CLARITY Act as Stablecoin Yield Talks Advance

**TL;DR:** Coinbase’s Faryar Shirzad predicts a Senate markup on the CLARITY Act this month and a floor vote in May, as stablecoin yield talks advance.

## Context The CLARITY Act would create a federal framework for digital assets, including rules for stablecoin yields. It passed the House in July 2025 by a vote of 294‑134 but remains stalled in the Senate Banking Committee over whether holders can earn passive interest on dollar‑pegged tokens.

## Key Facts Shirzad told Fox Business on April 16 that negotiators are nearing a compromise that bans pure passive yield while permitting activity‑based rewards, and he hopes Chairman Scott schedules a markup this month with a floor vote in May. The stablecoin market now exceeds $320 billion, with forecasts of $1–2 trillion, and typical yields on major stablecoins such as USDC (ticker USDC) and USDT (ticker USDT) range from 3 % to 5 % annually, far above the average U.S. bank savings rate of about 0.01 %. Coinbase (COIN) shares rose 2.3 % in intraday trading after the comments, while Bitcoin (BTC) held steady near $27,500.

## What It Means If the Senate approves the markup and passes the bill, issuers would gain regulatory clarity to offer limited, activity‑linked incentives without triggering the deposit‑flight concerns raised by banks. That could accelerate institutional adoption of tokenized bonds and real‑estate assets, potentially expanding the stablecoin sector toward its $1‑2 trillion projection. Conversely, a continued deadlock would keep the industry under enforcement‑only regulation, raising compliance costs and limiting innovation in programmable payments.

Watch for the Senate Banking Committee’s markup schedule and any yield‑limit language in the coming weeks.