Washington is currently gripped by a quiet but bruising fight that carries real consequences for the future of money. The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, better known as the CLARITY Act, sits at the center of it. Banks, stablecoin issuers, regulators, and lawmakers all circle the same unresolved question. Should stablecoins be allowed pay interest to users?
Behind closed doors, negotiators are trading drafts and talking points, while the public sees only fragments of the story. But the broad theme remains constant: banks argue that interest-bearing stablecoins threaten their deposit base and upend decades-old banking mechanics. Stablecoin issuers counter that yield defines their commercial future and long-term relevance, and offers genuine value to consumers.
For both sides, the fight is existential, potentially upending how consumers are rewarded by financial institutions – and therefore, which ones get access to billions of dollars in deposits each year. The House already passed the bill. It’s now up to the Senate to decide the future of stablecoins.
With a crucial deadline approaching, negotiations are intensifying. Let’s look at the crypto industry leaders whose future success depends on the final text of this bill.
7 Stablecoin Leaders With The Most At Stake In The CLARITY Act
With a crucial deadline approaching, negotiations are intensifying. Let’s look at the industry leaders whose future success depends on the final text of this bill.
1. Jeremy Allaire – Circle CEO
As the leader of Circle, the issuer of USDC, Jeremy Allaire finds himself in a unique position. Circle has long positioned USDC as the most transparent and compliant stablecoin in the market. A successful passage of the CLARITY Act would grant USDC the federal legitimacy it has sought for years, potentially making it the primary choice for institutional payments.
However, Allaire has publicly dismissed banking fears regarding yield as absurd, arguing that stablecoins represent a neutral layer of financial infrastructure. If the final bill bans rewards entirely, Circle might lose a significant tool for user retention, yet the company stands to gain the most from clear, federal rules of the road.
2. Paolo Ardoino – Tether CEO
The Tether stablecoin (USDT) remains the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, but its offshore status creates a complex dynamic with US lawmakers. Paolo Ardoino has spent much of early 2026 meeting with officials to signal Tether’s commitment to compliance and law enforcement cooperation.
The CLARITY Act includes provisions that could restrict how US exchanges handle assets that do not meet specific audit standards. For Ardoino, the stake involves ensuring that USDT can still function within the American financial system. A strict version of the bill could force Tether to launch a specialized US version of its token to remain accessible to American traders.
3. Brian Armstrong – Coinbase CEO
The CEO of Coinbase has become one of the most vocal critics of the recent Senate draft. While Coinbase initially supported the bill, Brian Armstrong paused support in early 2026 after the introduction of the stablecoin rewards restrictions. He has argued that banks are attempting to use the legislative process to kill their competition.
Since USDC rewards are a significant driver of activity on the Coinbase platform, a total ban would hit the company’s revenue and user engagement. Armstrong insists that Americans deserve a level playing field where digital assets can compete fairly with traditional bank deposits.
4. Brad Garlinghouse – Ripple CEO
Brad Garlinghouse is perhaps the most optimistic leader regarding the bill’s prospects, mentioning the 90% of passage by late April (as seen in prediction markets), during an interview with FOX Business. Ripple is preparing to launch its own stablecoin (RLUSD) and the company views the CLARITY Act as the key to its success.
For Ripple, the bill provides more than just stablecoin rules; it offers a path toward legal certainty for the broader XRP ecosystem. Garlinghouse has urged the industry to accept a compromise bill rather than waiting for a perfect one, as he believes regulatory clarity is the only way to end the era of regulation by enforcement.
5. Charles Cascarilla – Paxos CEO and Co-Founder
Paxos operates as a regulated trust company, making it the gold standard for many institutional partners like PayPal. Charles Cascarilla sees the CLARITY Act as a way to turn stablecoins into the primary plumbing for global money movement. His company issues PYUSD and USDP, focusing heavily on the B2B market.
For Cascarilla, the stakes involve whether the new law will favor the regulated trust model he has built. If the bill grants specific advantages to banks over non-bank issuers, it could alter the competitive landscape for Paxos as it tries to power the next generation of payment flows.
6. Rune Christensen – Sky Ecosystem (formerly MakerDAO) Co-Founder
Decentralized stablecoins like USDS (formerly DAI) face a different set of challenges. Rune Christensen has worked to adapt the Maker (now Sky) ecosystem into the more streamlined Sky brand, but the CLARITY Act could pose an existential threat to decentralized models.
If the law requires all “payment stablecoins” to be centrally managed and held in traditional bank custody, decentralized protocols might struggle to find a legal path forward in the United States. Christensen’s stake involves protecting the ability of autonomous protocols to exist alongside their centralized counterparts.
Key exposure points include:
- Centralization requirements
- Reserve composition rules
- Governance classification
Each one directly affects Maker’s design.
7. Guy Young – Ethena Labs Founder and CEO
As the pioneer of the synthetic dollar model with Ethena Labs, Guy Young’s USDe relies heavily on generating yield through hedging strategies. Because USDe functions differently from a traditional fiat-backed coin, it sits right in the crosshairs of the debate over interest-bearing assets.
If the CLARITY Act defines all yield-bearing tokens as securities or bans them from payment use, Ethena could face significant hurdles. Young is currently pushing to show that these assets function as money, emphasizing that their utility goes far beyond simple investment returns.
Concerns Surrounding Stablecoin Yield
Traditional financial institutions express deep worry that yield-bearing stablecoins will trigger a massive exodus of retail deposits. Banks argue that they cannot compete with digital assets that offer high programmatic rewards without the same heavy regulatory costs. This competition could limit the ability of local banks to provide loans for their retail and corporate clients.
Policymakers must now balance financial stability priorities with competitiveness and market access. Private negotiations focus on defining boundaries that preserve banking safeguards while allowing modern payment instruments to grow responsibly.
Why The CLARITY Act Outcome is Crucial
The CLARITY Act now sits at the intersection of policy, banking, and digital finance. Negotiations remain private, outcomes uncertain, and stakes unusually high. For the leaders listed above, the final language does more than clarify rules. It defines who competes, who adapts, and who sets the pace for digital dollars in the United States.
