Coinbase’s Chief Policy Officer, Faryar Shirzad, said in a Thursday interview with FOX Business that meaningful progress is being made on the long-delayed CLARITY Act, the crypto market-structure bill that has been stuck in Congress for nearly five months.
Potential Markup As Early As This Month
During the interview, Shirzad described recent developments as encouraging. He said that over the past days, there has been “really great work taking place” and that Coinbase has been focused on the stablecoin rewards topic, which he described as critical for resolving the broader dispute.
Shirzad added that he expects Chair Tim Scott to schedule the anticipated markup as early as this month. He also said expectations are that the bill could reach a full Senate vote in May, if the committee process moves forward on the proposed timeline.
When asked about the deadlock tied to the stablecoin rewards provision, Shirzad cited the recent White House economic study that examined whether the provision would trigger “deposit flight” from traditional banking institutions.
According to his interpretation of the findings, there is no evidence that such an outcome would occur. He said the matter is largely “put on bed,” though he noted that banking lobby groups are reportedly still trying to oppose stablecoins.
In Shirzad’s view, the resistance reflects broader efforts to defend President Trump’s vision for crypto policy in the United States—a vision the president has repeatedly described as aiming to make “America the crypto capital of the world.”
CLARITY Act Timeline Watch
Shirzad’s comments also aligned with Wednesday reporting that suggested Senate Banking Committee members and staff were continuing to finalize the CLARITY Act.
According to those reports, negotiation participants still see certain open areas that could shape the final draft, including ethics and tokenization. At the same time, the reporting indicated that some of the more contentious issues—such as DeFi and stablecoin yield—have largely been addressed already.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse also pointed to May as the key month to watch, arguing that passage of the CLARITY Act hinges on whether the stablecoin yield dispute moves toward resolution. Garlinghouse said that the stablecoin yield issue was nearing closure.
Senator Thom Tillis said on Monday that he is working to release bill text outlining the stablecoin yield compromise reached between banks and crypto firms sometime this week.
However, Crypto In America reported that the exact timing could still shift depending on when the CLARITY Act markup is scheduled. In other words, even if lawmakers are closing in on language, the bill’s calendar may still depend on whether committee scheduling aligns with the negotiated outcome.