Armstrong Says 'Mark It Up' as Stablecoin Yield Compromise Clears Path for CLARITY Act

Brian Armstrong's reply ran to three words. Faryar Shirzad, Coinbase's Chief Policy Officer, had posted on X about the release of "final rewards language" in the CLARITY Act. Armstrong, Coinbase's CEO, quoted the post and wrote: "Mark it up." It was a short message, but it marked a reversal in a fight that had stalled one of the most closely watched pieces of crypto legislation in Washington.

The bill is meant to set up a comprehensive U.S. market structure for digital assets. The dispute that held it up was over stablecoin yield: whether crypto platforms can pay customers rewards for holding stablecoins, and how closely those rewards can resemble interest on a bank deposit. In January, Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) withdrew its support for the legislation over this issue. The withdrawal had a direct effect, because the committee markup was postponed indefinitely.

Shirzad's post drew on a report from Punchbowl News, which had seen the compromise text. According to that report, crypto firms would be barred from offering rewards that are "economically or functionally equivalent" to deposit interest. The language was finalized by Sens. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, and Angela Alsobrooks, a Maryland Democrat.

The text does more than draw a line. It directs regulators to propose a new series of stablecoin regulations. Those would include a new stablecoin disclosure regime and a list of reward activities that would be permitted. In practice, the details of what counts as an allowed reward would be worked out by regulators rather than fixed in the statute.

Shirzad described the outcome as a trade. Banks, he said, managed to win more restrictions on rewards. But he said the industry protected what matters: the ability for Americans to earn rewards based on real usage of crypto platforms and networks.

Not everyone in the industry was satisfied. Ji Kim, CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation, disagreed with the updated text. Even so, he urged the Senate Banking Committee to mark up the CLARITY Act promptly so the country can establish a comprehensive digital asset market structure. His position reflects a view that having a bill moving matters more than any single provision.

The compromise has not been officially confirmed. Neither Tillis nor Alsobrooks has publicly commented so far, and Benzinga reached out to both offices for a response. For now, the account of the text rests on Punchbowl's reporting and on the reactions of people with a stake in the outcome.

On the market side, Coinbase shares closed 1.85% higher at $191.25 in Friday's regular session, according to Benzinga Pro. Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings show the stock doing well on short-term price gains but lagging over medium and long horizons, with a very low Momentum score.

What to watch next is whether the Senate Banking Committee schedules the markup that was shelved in January, and what regulators eventually propose on stablecoin disclosures and permissible rewards.