Overview
- Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks said Tuesday their stablecoin rewards compromise is final and asked the Senate Banking Committee to hold a markup.
- The text bans rewards on idle stablecoin balances that are equivalent to bank interest, allows incentives tied to activity, and tasks the SEC, CFTC, and Treasury to define permitted programs within about a year; stablecoins are dollar‑pegged crypto tokens used for payments and trading.
- Coinbase and Circle endorsed the deal and urged action, while major banking groups said the language “falls short” and could still enable deposit‑like returns that pull funds from community banks.
- Crypto equities rallied Monday after the compromise surfaced, with Circle up about 20%, Coinbase up roughly 6%, and prediction‑market odds for passage climbing above 60%.
- Committee leaders are targeting a mid‑May markup before the May 21 recess, but Republican unity and unresolved items such as ethics and DeFi safeguards could still delay a floor vote.