US lawmakers delayed the CLARITY Act again after a public fight broke out over who should control stablecoin rewards, according to industry sources. Crypto prices stayed calm, but behind the scenes, rewards on digital dollars have become the main pressure point for exchanges and banks.
The bigger issue is how Washington wants crypto dollars to work in daily life, whether they should behave more like money in a savings account or just another piece of software.
For regular users, this debate hits close to home because stablecoins are the closest thing crypto has to digital cash. If the rules change, the small return people earn for holding these dollars online could shrink or move to platforms outside the US. Some companies are already preparing for that possibility.
It also helps explain why large firms are now pushing back on bills they once supported. Regulation has stopped being theoretical and has started touching real balances.
What the CLARITY Act Is and Why Rewards Are the Problem
The CLARITY Act is meant to decide who regulates crypto in the US. You can think of it as a rulebook that decides which referee runs the game. We have a full explainer on the CLARITY Act draft if you want to dig deeper.
53 banking associations just wrote themselves a $6.6 trillion protection bill.
They called it the CLARITY Act.
Here is what they do not want you to understand.
Banks pay depositors 0.1% interest. Stablecoin issuers hold Treasury bills earning 4.5%. If stablecoins could pass… https://t.co/3UNjoucltx pic.twitter.com/sqDeduoVPa
— Shanaka Anslem Perera ⚡ (@shanaka86) January 15, 2026
The fight boils down to rewards paid on stablecoins. A stablecoin is a digital token designed to stay near one dollar, like USDC or USDT. Rewards are the small returns platforms pay users, similar to interest, often generated from income on government bonds or lending.
Some lawmakers want to limit these rewards when they come from simply holding stablecoins. Supporters say this protects users. Critics say it gives banks more control.
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Who Gains and Who Loses If Rewards Get Cut
Exchanges like Coinbase say rewards are why people keep dollars in crypto apps rather than traditional banks. Coinbase reported around $1.3 billion in stablecoin reward income in 2025, which helps explain why it pulled support for the bill.
After reviewing the Senate Banking draft text over the last 48hrs, Coinbase unfortunately can’t support the bill as written.
There are too many issues, including:
– A defacto ban on tokenized equities
– DeFi prohibitions, giving the government unlimited access to your financial…— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) January 14, 2026
Banks see things differently. They argue that stablecoin rewards siphon funds from regular accounts that pay little or no interest. That concern has already pushed regulators to tighten parts of the bill, according to a report by Stablecoin Insider.
For users, the risk is simple. If US platforms cannot offer rewards, activity may move overseas or into fewer companies. When competition declines, rates usually worsen.
Why App Builders Are Getting Nervous
Many crypto apps run on open-source software rather than being owned by a single company. You can picture it like a vending machine that runs on its own, where no manager stands behind the glass deciding who can use it.
The CLARITY Act tries to separate people who build software from companies that hold customer money. Builders support that line. If it becomes blurry, some may stop offering their tools to US users.
That could reduce the volume of digital dollars moving through these systems, slowing lending and trading activity.
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The Safety Argument Regulators Are Using
Regulators often point to past failures like Celsius and BlockFi. Those platforms promised rewards without clearly explaining where the money came from. When markets turned, users lost access to their funds.
Lawmakers are trying to protect users without building a system that only large companies can afford to follow.
Expect stronger language and heavier lobbying before the next vote. Until then, treat stablecoin rewards as risky income and avoid parking money you need for rent or groceries just to earn a little extra.
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