Patrick McHenry, former chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and current vice chairman of Ondo Finance, has expressed optimism that the comprehensive U.S. crypto market structure legislation, known as the CLARITY Act, could be signed into law before Memorial Day this year. Speaking at the Ondo Summit in New York City, McHenry stated that negotiations are progressing and that Senate action could occur in the coming months, potentially before Easter, setting up a rapid timeline for final passage.
McHenry was joined by White House advisor Patrick Witt, who confirmed that President Trump has personally prioritized the legislation following the passage of the Genius Act. Witt revealed that a recent White House-brokered meeting on stablecoin yield surfaced "new areas of agreement" and that drafting teams are now actively "trading paper" to convert high-level principles into specific statutory language.
The primary obstacle remains the debate over stablecoin yield payments. Crypto firms have shown willingness to negotiate on how yield-bearing stablecoins should operate, while banks, particularly community lenders, are cautious. They fear that higher-yield digital dollar products could attract deposits away from traditional institutions. Witt noted there is broad agreement on banning deceptive practices, such as marketing stablecoins as FDIC-insured deposits, but the core dispute centers on whether centralized exchanges should be allowed to pay passive yield on idle stablecoin balances.
McHenry emphasized that decentralized finance (DeFi) must be addressed for the legislation to succeed, calling it foundational. He argued that the benefits of blockchain—faster transactions, continuous trading, and lower costs—are tied to DeFi innovation. He cited tokenized lending products already being cheaper than traditional securities lending as evidence of strong market demand.
Another key focus of the bill is improving regulatory coordination between agencies overseeing securities, commodities, and stablecoins to simplify compliance and provide clearer rules. While ethics concerns have been raised, both McHenry and Witt suggested a narrower compromise could unlock bipartisan support, though Republicans could move the bill forward on partisan votes if necessary.
