Overview
- The Senate Banking Committee advanced the bill on May 14 by a 15–9 vote using substitute text that codifies a CFTC/SEC split, treating most blockchain‑native tokens as digital commodities while leaving investment‑contract tokens to the SEC.
- The substitute bans paying interest or yield solely for holding payment stablecoins while allowing narrow activity‑based rewards, a compromise that drew pushback from banks and prompted industry plans for compliant 'use‑to‑earn' or 'yield‑as‑a‑service' products.
- The text contains developer protections that exempt some noncustodial software creators from money‑transmitter rules, a move defended by House Republicans and industry leaders and criticized by law‑enforcement groups for potentially weakening investigations.
- Sponsors must now reconcile the Banking text with the Senate Agriculture bill, win roughly 60 votes on the Senate floor, clear House reconciliation and secure the president's signature before the framework becomes law.
- The measure builds on years of bipartisan work such as the Lummis–Gillibrand effort, has wide industry support and has already prompted market and product planning, but final content and timing hinge on unresolved ethics, DeFi scope and AML enforcement language.