US Market Structure Bill Fails, 'Reversal'...Stablecoin Interest Regulation Plan 'Halted'

▲ US Congress, Crypto Regulation, Stablecoin/AI Generated Image

As the US crypto market structure bill failed in the Senate, plans to impose additional regulations on stablecoin rewards paid by platforms also halted.

According to Benzinga on September 16 (local time), the US crypto market structure bill failed to secure the 60 votes needed for passage, recording 49 votes in favor and 50 against in the Senate procedural vote. Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao stated immediately after the vote, “If there's a positive, it's that stablecoins can continue to offer yields.” The bill included a provision that could restrict stablecoin rewards for up to 18 months under certain conditions.

The stablecoin regulation bill GENIUS remains valid. This law prohibits stablecoin issuers from directly paying interest or profits to holders. Accordingly, Circle cannot directly pay interest to USDC holders, and Tether also cannot directly provide profits to USDT holders. However, it does not prohibit intermediary platforms such as exchanges and wallets from paying rewards. Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols can also provide returns through lending and liquidity provision.

Coinbase (COIN) offers an annual reward of 3.5% on USDC held in its app. Coinbase classifies this as a loyalty reward and operates a structure where it splits reserve asset profits 50/50 with Circle. Coinbase's stablecoin revenue in Q1 2026 was $305 million, and its subscription and services business accounted for 44% of total revenue. The USDC balance on the platform was approximately $19 billion, exceeding a quarter of the total circulating supply.

Yields are also maintained in the decentralized finance market. Aave holds approximately $38.6 billion in total value locked (TVL), and the supply yields for USDT and USDC are typically in the range of 4-6% annually. Benzinga reported that Compound's USDC yield is 4-7% annually, and Morpho Blue offers yields 0.5-1.5 percentage points higher than Aave at the same risk level. The total market capitalization of stablecoins as of June 12 was approximately $316 billion, an increase of about 12 times from $27 billion at the end of 2020.

However, the debate over stablecoin reward regulation is not over. The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has proposed a rule that considers some structures where issuers and platforms share profits as an circumvention of the stablecoin regulation bill GENIUS. This rule has not yet been implemented. Benzinga explained that with the failure of the US crypto market structure bill, no additional platform-level restrictions have been introduced, and the current stablecoin reward structure continues to be maintained.

[Key Article Summary]

-The US crypto market structure bill failed to pass a procedural vote in the Senate with 49 votes in favor and 50 against.

-With the bill's failure, the provision to impose additional restrictions on stablecoin rewards paid by platforms was also not implemented.

-Coinbase offers an annual reward of 3.5% on USDC, and yields of 4-7% annually are maintained in the decentralized finance market.

*Disclaimer: This article is for investment reference only, and we are not responsible for any investment losses based on it. The content should be interpreted for informational purposes only.*