White House pushes CLARITY Act closer to stablecoin deal

The White House took direct control of CLARITY Act negotiations on 19 February, as banks and crypto firms inched closer to a stablecoin rewards compromise

The third White House meeting on the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act in as many weeks produced the clearest signal yet that a compromise on stablecoin rewards may be within reach, though significant obstacles remain before the bill can advance in the Senate.

Yesterday’s session (19 February) brought together a smaller group than previous gatherings. Crypto was represented by Coinbase, Ripple, a16z, the Blockchain Association, and the Crypto Council for Innovation. 

Individual bank executives were absent this time, with the industry instead sending representatives through trade associations, the American Bankers Association, the Bank Policy Institute and the ICBA. The tighter attendance reflected a shift from earlier sessions, which had repeatedly ended without meaningful progress on the CLARITY Act.

🚨NEW: Per sources in the room, today’s stablecoin meeting was smaller than last week and included reps from @coinbase, @Ripple, @a16z, plus trade groups @BlockchainAssn and @crypto_council. No individual bank reps attended — bank voices were represented via trade associations…

— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) February 20, 2026

The meeting ran well beyond its scheduled two hours and, according to CoinDesk – citing sources familiar with the talks – White House officials pressed participants to stay until common ground had been found, with phones collected at one point to keep the discussion focused.

CLARITY Act: Approach from the White House

Where previous CLARITY Act meetings had seen banks and crypto firms largely drive the discussion themselves, Thursday’s session was led by the White House directly. 

Patrick Witt, the administration’s Digital Asset Policy lead, arrived with a draft legislative text that served as the central focus, according to sources in the room speaking to journalist Eleanor Terrett.

That draft acknowledged the banking industry’s concerns while stopping well short of their preferred outcome. At the 10 February meeting, banks had tabled a document calling for a near-total ban on stablecoin rewards of any kind. 

Witt’s text drew a distinction between two types of rewards: earning yield on idle stablecoin balances appears effectively off the table, while rewards tied to specific transaction activity remain under negotiation. 

One crypto-side attendee told Terrett that bank concerns now appear to stem more from competitive pressures than the deposit flight risk originally presented as the central argument, a framing that, if accurate, suggests the gap between the two sides may be narrower than the previous meetings implied.

Banks are still seeking inclusion of a formal study into the impact of stablecoin growth on deposit outflows, and were said to be encouraged by proposed anti-evasion language giving the SEC, Treasury and the CFTC enforcement authority over any agreed restrictions.

Ripple‘s Stuart Alderoty, attending his third consecutive White House session, wrote on X afterwards: “We rolled up our sleeves and went through specific language today. Work will continue in the coming days.” 

Many thanks to @patrickjwitt for today's meeting and for his continued commitment to get CLARITY across the finish line. We rolled up our sleeves and went through specific language today. Work will continue in the coming days. Let’s get this right and make the US the crypto…

— Stuart Alderoty (@s_alderoty) February 19, 2026

The Crypto Council for Innovation’s CEO Ji Kim described the meeting as “focused working engagement” that had helped establish a framework for moving forward.

Pressure from outside the room

A day prior to the meeting, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon added his voice to the debate at the World Liberty Forum at Mar-a-Lago. 

Solomon aligned himself with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who had previously labelled crypto executives threatening to abandon the bill as “nihilists” who should “move to El Salvador.” 

Solomon said he was “in the same camp,” arguing that a rules-based system for crypto was not optional. “It’s not going to be perfect,” he said. 

The remarks were widely read as directed at Coinbase‘s Brian Armstrong, who pulled his support for the bill in January saying he would “rather have no bill than a bad bill.” 

That withdrawal, alongside more than 130 amendments submitted by various parties, contributed to the Senate Banking Committee cancelling its planned markup — the event that prompted the current round of White House-led negotiations.

Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse has taken a different position to Armstrong throughout, pushing for the bill to advance even if imperfect. 

Speaking on Fox Business, Garlinghouse said he now puts the probability of the CLARITY Act passing by the end of April at 90%, pointing to renewed momentum in Washington. 

Ripple, which has spent nearly $3bn on acquisitions since 2023 and is currently pausing further deals to focus on integration, has a direct commercial stake in the regulatory certainty the bill would provide.

Bank trade groups will now brief their members on Thursday’s discussions, with further talks expected in the coming days. An end-of-month target has been floated, which would give the Senate Banking Committee a narrow window to reschedule its stalled markup. 

Stablecoin yield, however, is not the only outstanding issue. Democratic senators are pushing for stronger decentralised finance protections and remain insistent on a ban preventing senior government officials from holding direct crypto interests, which is a provision the White House has firmly refused to accept, given President Trump‘s estimated $867m in family crypto holdings. 

Both threads will need resolving before the bill can progress to a full Senate vote.