The Clarity Act, which would regulate and further legitimize digital assets, inched closer to passing after a senator pulled out of a contested amendment to the bill. Republican Roger Marshall of Kansas backed out of a politically charged provision that would force credit cards to compete on swipe fees, according to Politico.
Last week, Sen. Marshall filed the amendment about credit card fees but over the weekend said he would let go of the provision, Politico reported, citing anonymous sources. Other Republicans would have opposed the measure, creating a roadblock for the broader crypto legislation’s progress.
Marshall’s retreat is good news for the crypto industry following weeks of uncertainty surrounding the bill. The Clarity Act, which has attracted bipartisan support, is intended to be a further stamp of approval for digital assets by Congress and President Donald Trump’s administration. The bill seeks to integrate blockchain based assets and technologies into the broader financial system.
The legislation was supposed to pass without too much of a hitch, but it encountered an unexpected hurdle this month when Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, one of the most prominent figures in the crypto industry, pulled his support of the bill. He opposed the legislation’s prohibition of customers earning yield on stablecoins. His surprise rebuke of the bill sparked infighting between him and a number of other crypto leaders, who backed the bill.
The discord surrounding the bill compounds headwinds facing the crypto industry during a rough few months that have seen prices fall significantly. Bitcoin is down roughly 31% since its all-time high in October. Ethereum and Solana are down roughly 40% and 50%, respectively, from their highs last year.
This decline comes in spite of Trump’s more favorable policies toward the sector. In July he signed the Genius Act, which set a regulatory framework for stablecoins. Months later, cryptocurrencies reached record-high prices, only to plummet starting in October, and have yet to recover.
The Senate Agriculture Committee is expected to vote on the bill on Thursday morning, giving the crypto industry a glimmer of hope in what has been a tough season for the sector.