Rep. French Hill says House 'Clarity Act' provides bipartisan framework as White House mediates stablecoin rewards dispute
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Summary
Representative French Hill, chair of the House Financial Services Committee, told a broadcast interviewer that the House's Clarity Act offers bipartisan language on stablecoins and DeFi. He said Treasury rulemaking and harmonized SEC/CFTC oversight could resolve a standoff over whether crypto platforms may pay rewards to customers who hold stablecoins on exchanges.
Representative French Hill, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said the House has already produced bipartisan language on stablecoins and decentralized finance that he hopes can serve as a blueprint in the Senate as White House officials broker talks.
"We were so pleased to spend basically three and a half years working on a market structure bill in the House," Hill said. He described the Clarity Act as having addressed both "the stablecoin yield issue" and "DeFi protocols," and said the House demonstrated bipartisan support for its approach.
Hill referenced support he described during the interview as "78 Democrats on the language in our Clarity Act in the House," noting the House vote last July and urging senators to consider the House text as a potential landing spot. He said senators including Tim Scott and Senator Bozeman had been working on related draft language in the Senate.
On who should govern crypto platforms that hold customer assets, Hill said issuers and users need to be under consistent rules whether they are bank-owned or not. "We want technology and innovation to advance," he said, "but the issuers and users need to be all under the same rules and whether they're bank owned or not bank owned." He added that Treasury rulemaking under what he called the "Genius Act" could set the "rules of the road" about how banks and nonbanks use stablecoins and disclose them to consumers.
Asked whether crypto platforms should carry deposit insurance if they hold customer funds, Hill rejected that as the right fit for an exchange function. "I think if they're performing an exchange function, they should be covered by the SEC and CFTC rules," he said, and he pointed to ongoing work to harmonize oversight between the agencies so intermediary functions and certain DeFi transactions are governed consistently.
Hill and guest Paul Atkins also discussed prediction markets and whether those products fall under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission or securities law. Hill flagged a pending Supreme Court case that could influence how prediction markets are regulated.
Hill said he welcomed White House engagement and named administration staff (including David Sachs) as part of negotiations with senators, expressing a hope that the Senate could craft legislation the president would sign.
The interview did not record a specific bill text from the Senate or a timetable for markup; Hill said he looked forward to continued talks and to working with senators and the White House to reach a compromise.
