Debate continues as legacy banks and left-wing policy advocates line up to challenge CLARITY ActThe legislation is on track for a price increase hearing in the Senate Banking Committee tomorrow (Thursday, May 14, 2026).
While some in the opposition offer foolish reasons to oppose the bill, the banking industry wants a bigger regulatory moat to protect its revenues from emerging competition.
CI received numerous comments on the pending legislation. t ZERO CEO Alan Konevsky He says the bill’s current language provides the foundation for institutions to transition from pilot programs to scaling digital products globally.
“While this progress is vital, we continue to believe the bill can be further optimized to increase broker-dealers’ licensing efficiency so they can conduct their digital asset businesses ‘under one roof’ with full federal preemption from state laws. Reducing fragmented requirements for digital assets will allow firms to deliver a seamless, unified experience that will meet investor demand, promote convergence, and optimize efficiency.”
Andrew ForsonHead of Digital Asset Manager DeFi Technologiessupports the legislation.
“Clarity of regulations will enable DeFi product creators to innovate better. Drastically limiting access to stablecoin yield provides a DeFi and crypto-friendly moat as more innovative ways to generate yield will be created. This legislation is a boon for the digital asset space and allows finance to continue to innovate with structured tools created and existing outside of the banking sector.”
Can-Luca Köymenat Investment Strategist Sygnum BankThe latest draft of the CLARITY Act, a Switzerland-based digital asset bank, says it is the cleanest version they have seen and the most institutionally useful.
“Three things are important for collectors. First, a 1:1 reserve mandate, where high-quality liquid assets are limited to short-term Treasury bills, overnight repo, and central bank deposits under 90 days, would remove the structural uncertainty around stablecoin reserve quality that keeps conservative allocators on the sidelines. Second, the CFTC’s confirmed jurisdiction over digital commodities, including BTC, provides a clearer path that allows commodities, not securities. Third, DeFi regulations and activity-based reward provisions allow for on-chain “It protects the yield infrastructure rather than collapsing it, and this structurally supports the tokenization infrastructure.”
While he sees the stablecoin yield ban as a negative development for centralized platforms, he sees it as a negative development for DeFi protocols and regulated banks that already operate within a compliant framework.
“From a portfolio construction perspective, this draft and this year’s promising progress on the CLARITY Act are one of the structural drivers behind the decline in BTC’s correlation with stocks from over 0.61 in early February to around 0.50 today. As the framework moves towards transition, BTC’s case as a strategic allocation with unique diversification benefits in a balanced portfolio is only strengthening,” says Köymen. “Once the CLARITY Act goes into effect, the regulatory framework, one of the key remaining barriers to many corporate mandates, will be removed from the equation and the question will arise: ‘How do I size the position?’ The framework also likely raises the possibility that some professional investors will begin considering small, highly selective altcoin allocations.”
