Bessent Presses Congress On Crypto Rules As Senate Clock Ticks Down

A dispute over stablecoin rewards — not sweeping disagreements about crypto itself — is what’s holding up one of the most significant digital asset bills in US history.

At the center of the standoff is a narrow but contentious question: should third-party firms like Coinbase be allowed to pass stablecoin yields on to their customers? Banks say no, warning it could drain deposits from traditional financial institutions.

Crypto companies say yes, arguing it’s essential to staying competitive. That single point of friction has stalled the CLARITY Act in the Senate for months, even as the Trump administration pushes hard for a vote.

The case for urgency isn’t just political. Data shows that roughly one in six Americans already holds some form of digital asset. Major banks and financial institutions have either launched crypto-related products or applied to do so.

Blockchain technology, according to Bessent, has worked its way into payments, settlements, and the trading of real-world assets at a scale that regulators can no longer ignore.

“We have the administration, the momentum, and we’ve made bipartisan progress,” she said. A Senate markup of the bill is expected sometime in April, though similar deadlines have slipped before.

A White House analysis recently found that the risk of deposit flight from allowing stablecoin rewards is, by its own description, “quantitatively small.”

Some banking members pushed back on the White House findings, arguing the analysis overlooked key funding risks beyond deposit levels.

Featured image from Getty Images, chart from TradingView