CLARITY Act Faces April Deadline as Crypto Regulation Hangs in the Balance

TLDR

• The CLARITY Act must clear the Senate Banking Committee by April or its 2026 chances drop sharply
• Polymarket puts the odds of passage at 56%, down 9%; Kalshi shows just 30% before June
• The main sticking point is whether stablecoin issuers can pay yield to users
• Coinbase pulled support in January, saying it would rather have no bill than a bad one
• Gnosis co-founder warns the bill could push crypto back into the hands of centralized institutions

The CLARITY Act, the US crypto market structure bill, is running out of time. Galaxy Research head Alex Thorn warned the bill must reach the Senate floor by early May to have any real shot at passing in 2026. That means the Senate Banking Committee needs to approve it before the end of April.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has already said the bill is unlikely to clear by April. The Senate is currently focused on the SAVE America Act, pushing the CLARITY Act further down the schedule.

Thorn said every day of delay shrinks the window for floor debate. If April passes without committee approval, he called the odds of 2026 passage “extremely low.”

Prediction markets reflect that uncertainty. Polymarket shows the probability of the bill becoming law this year has dropped 9 points to 56%. Kalshi is more cautious, putting the odds at 30% before June and just 7% before May.

Stablecoin Yield Is the Core Dispute

The most visible fight is over stablecoin yield. The debate centers on whether stablecoin issuers should be allowed to share interest with users.

Representative French Hill said stablecoin yield must be banned for the bill to move forward in the Senate. Traditional banks argue that yield-bearing stablecoins could pull deposits away from regulated institutions.

Senator Angela Alsobrooks said both sides may need to give ground. White House crypto adviser and Coinbase CLO Paul Grewal also criticized banks for slowing the process.

DeFi and Regulatory Turf Wars Still Unresolved

Thorn said the stablecoin debate may not even be the last obstacle. He pointed to unresolved issues around decentralized finance oversight, developer protections, and how regulatory authority is split between the SEC and CFTC.

Lawyer Jake Chervinsky added that banks are also worried about stablecoin liquidity flowing into DeFi platforms, not just yield payments.

Gnosis co-founder Dr. Friederike Ernst said the bill’s current structure risks pushing all crypto activity through licensed intermediaries. She warned this could hand control of crypto infrastructure to a small number of large institutions.

Ernst said the bill does get some things right, including protecting peer-to-peer transactions and self-custody, and clarifying the SEC and CFTC’s roles.

Senator Bernie Moreno said he remains hopeful the bill will pass by April and reach President Trump’s desk. Thorn said that timeline is now looking very tight.

The post CLARITY Act Faces April Deadline as Crypto Regulation Hangs in the Balance appeared first on CoinCentral.