Crypto Brief

Senate CLARITY Act Stablecoin Yield Compromise Text Released

On May 1, U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., released compromise text on stablecoin yield in the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, the final major sticking point in the Senate version of the bill, barring crypto firms from paying interest or yield on stablecoin balances in a manner economically or functionally equivalent to a bank deposit, carving out rewards programs tied to “bona fide activities or bona fide transactions,” and directing the Treasury and Commodity Futures Trading Commission to write implementing rules within a year of enactment. Coinbase, the Blockchain Association, and the Crypto Council for Innovation publicly endorsed the compromise; Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong responded with “Mark it up.” Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal then stated, in a separate post, that this language “preserves activity-based rewards tied to real participation on crypto platforms and networks, which is what the bank lobby said they wanted,” adding that “we’re focused on getting a bill done and are satisfied that this language should not be the basis of any objection.” Bank trade associations have continued to push back, however, arguing that the carve-outs remain too permissive and risk recreating shadow-deposit dynamics outside the prudential perimeter. Even with the compromise in hand, the Senate’s draft must still be reconciled with the version the House passed nearly one year ago, and legislative work is expected to grind to a halt as the 2026 election season ramps up, leaving meaningful uncertainty as to whether the CLARITY Act will be enacted this Congress. The bill is available here, Sen. Cynthia Lummis’, R-Wyo., X post regarding the compromise text is available here, Armstrong’s X post is available here, and Grewal’s X post is available here.

SEC Grants HQLA No-Action Relief for On-Chain Settlement of Securities Lending and Repos

On May 4, the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets issued a no-action letter to HQLA S.àr.l. and Clearstream International S.A. allowing up to 15 U.S. persons to participate on the HQLA platform for a 36-month period without HQLA registering as a clearing agency. The HQLA platform uses a permissioned distributed ledger to settle securities lending and repo transactions through tokenized “digital collateral records” representing securities pre-positioned with Clearstream as custodian, enabling instantaneous ownership transfers without physical movement of assets across European CSDs; trades execute off-platform. The relief is tightly conditioned: Eligible U.S. participants are limited to SEC-registered broker-dealers with at least $100 million in excess net capital or banks with at least $10 billion in assets; eligible securities must qualify under the tri-party collateral profiles of BNY Mellon, JPMorgan, BNP Paribas, Clearstream Banking, or Euroclear; U.S.-participant activity is capped at $25 billion average daily value and 100,000 average daily trades; and HQLA must provide quarterly and ad hoc reporting and prompt notice of cap breaches. The HQLA no-action letter is available here.

DTCC Advances Development of New Tokenization Service for July Launch

On May 4, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (DTCC) announced that it is advancing the development of a new tokenization service, with initial capabilities targeted for rollout in July. The service is designed to provide DTCC clients with the ability to issue, transfer, and service tokenized assets within a DTCC-operated infrastructure, leveraging the firm’s existing role as the central post-trade utility for U.S. securities markets. The DTCC announcement is available here.

Western Union Launches Dollar Stablecoins on Solana

On May 4, Western Union announced USDPT, a U.S. dollar-denominated payment stablecoin built on the Solana blockchain and backed by U.S. dollars, with issuance handled by Anchorage Digital Bank–the first federally regulated crypto bank in the United States. President and CEO Devin McGranahan stated that the launch will create “a more efficient settlement layer” for partners, agents, and consumers while preserving the trust associated with the Western Union brand, with USDPT designed to integrate directly into the company’s global payments network and reduce delays and fragmentation associated with traditional correspondent banking. The press release is available here.

Meta Begins Offering Stablecoin Payouts to Creators via Stripe

On April 29, Meta began offering stablecoin payouts to a limited group of creators with support from Stripe, marking the company’s return to crypto-powered payments years after shutting down its Libra/Diem project. Stripe’s Jay Shah confirmed that “businesses can now send stablecoin payouts directly to customers using Link,” with Meta among the first partners enabling creators in countries such as the Philippines and Colombia to receive stablecoins in their Link wallets. The pilot is significant because it reintroduces one of the largest consumer internet platforms into the stablecoin payments ecosystem–this time as a payee operator rather than as an issuer–at a moment when the U.S. legislative framework for payment stablecoins under the GENIUS Act has stabilized. Meta’s resource page is available here.

ECB’s Cipollone on Digital Assets, Payment Efficiency, and Monetary Policy

On May 4, European Central Bank (ECB) executive board member Piero Cipollone delivered a speech titled “Digital assets, payment efficiency and monetary policy,” addressing the implications of distributed ledger technology (DLT), crypto assets, and stablecoins for euro-area payment infrastructure and the conduct of monetary policy. The remarks situate the ECB’s continued advancement of the digital euro project and its DLT-based wholesale settlement initiatives against the rapid private-sector growth of dollar-denominated stablecoins and reiterate the ECB’s view that public money rails remain essential to monetary sovereignty and financial stability. The speech is available here.

Montana Stands Up Blockchain and Digital Innovation Task Force

On May 5, the Montana Division of Banking and Financial Institutions launched the Blockchain and Digital Innovation Task Force (BDITF), a state-level body charged with examining the application of blockchain technology, digital assets, and related innovations within Montana’s financial services sector and developing recommendations for the division’s regulatory and supervisory approach. The BDITF is positioned to coordinate with state-chartered banks, money transmitters, and trust companies operating in the digital asset space and to provide a forum for industry input on emerging supervisory questions, including custody, stablecoin issuance, and tokenized deposits. The announcement is available here.

Bullish to Acquire Transfer Agent Equiniti for $4.2B

On May 5, Peter Thiel-backed crypto exchange Bullish announced a definitive agreement to acquire global transfer agent Equiniti from affiliates of Siris Capital in a transaction valued at approximately $4.2 billion, comprising $1.85 billion of assumed Equiniti debt and approximately $2.35 billion in Bullish stock consideration. The combination is intended to give Bullish–led by former NYSE president and CEO Tom Farley–a regulated transfer agent serving nearly 3,000 issuer clients, 15,000 corporate clients, and over 20 million shareholders and processing approximately $500 billion in annual payments in order to underpin a blockchain-native infrastructure for tokenized capital markets instruments. Farley described tokenization as “a once-in-a-generation shift in how capital markets operate, the defining infrastructure trend of the next 25 years,” and stated that the combination uniquely positions Bullish “to lead the transition to tokenized securities.” The press release is available here.