By Jasper Goodman
March 20, 2026
The tentative agreement could unlock a path forward for a landmark crypto regulator bill.
Key senators say they have clinched a tentative agreement with the White House on language they hope to include in cryptocurrency legislation that is aimed at resolving a clash between banks and digital asset firms over stablecoin yield, marking a potential major breakthrough for the bill.
The agreement between Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) and White House officials could clear the way for a landmark crypto regulatory billto advance in the coming weeks. The legislation has been stalled in the Senate Banking Committee since January, in part due to the rift between banks and crypto firms.
“Sen. Tillis and I do have an agreement in principle,” Alsobrooks said in an interview Friday. “We’ve come a long way. And I think what it will do is to allow us to protect innovation, but also gives us the opportunity to prevent widespread deposit flight.”
The clash in question has centered around whether crypto exchanges should be allowed to pay yield to stablecoin holders through rewards programs. Tillis and Alsobrooks have both been sympathetic to concerns raised by Wall Street groups that allowing stablecoins to pay any kind of yield could lead customers to pull deposits out of bank accounts.
It is unclear what is included in the agreement, and it is not guaranteed to win support from the banking and crypto industries. Tillis said in an interview that he feels “like we’re in a good place” with the tentative agreement, but added that he still plans “to vet it with industry.”
“In working with the White House, I think we have an agreement,” Tillis said. “Now we have to vet it with industry, because they are a party to an ultimate deal.”
Alsobrooks said the new language will seek to bar yield payments “on a passive balance,” but the details remain unclear.
In a post on X following the publication of this story, Patrick Witt, a top White House crypto policy adviser, credited Tillis and Alsobrooks “for bridging the partisan divide to tackle a difficult issue.”
“More work to be done to close out this and other outstanding issues, but this is a major milestone toward passing the CLARITY Act,” he wrote.