Congress returned from its Easter break on Monday, and Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse used the moment to sound much more confident about the CLARITY Act, the much-anticipated cryptocurrency market structure bill that has been stalled for months.
In recent remarks, Garlinghouse pointed to May as the most vital month to watch the transition, arguing that the stablecoin viability dispute that has held up legislation since January is close to being resolved.
Ripple CEO signals progress in resolving issues
Garlinghouse’s comments came during a panel at the Semafor World Economic Summit in Washington on April 13. According to reporting by 24/7 Wall St. a Ripple executive told the audience that the stablecoin profitability dispute is close to being resolved.
He suggested that the political process is reaching a point where compromise becomes more likely, saying: “When people are at the height of frustration, that’s when they finally compromise and get it done,” before adding: “I think we’re already there.”
Although he did not provide a specific voting day, Garlinghouse’s timeline matches what he indicated earlier. His outlook has already changed once: when he spoke at the FII Priority Miami Summit on March 27, the Ripple CEO moved his expectations from April to behind schedule May.
Other administration figures reiterated that progress is not only taking place in the argument over the viability of stablecoins. White House cryptocurrency adviser Patrick Witt said on April 13 that significant progress had been made behind the scenes in negotiations on issues beyond stablecoin viability.
“All of these problems seemed intractable and unsolvable at one point,” Witt said. He added that the fact that many of these issues have already been narrowed down gives him confidence remaining obstacles can also be solved.
The CLARITY Act could be delayed until 2027
Senator Thom Tillis is expected to release a revised draft stablecoin yield agreement as early as this week. If both sides accept the updated version, the Senate Banking Committee could finally schedule a date markup which has been suspended since January.
Despite this, the bill still faces steps that cannot be skipped. Ripple’s CEO may point to May as a likely target, but the timing of the committee’s work remains uncertain.
Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott has not yet set a marker date, and while some lawmakers are still aiming for the end of April, the timeline could still change depending on the progress of negotiations and the pace of the committee’s work on the text.
Both Senators Hagerty and Lummis said: vote at the end of April is still a target. Sen. Bernie Moreno, however, offered a stronger warning.
If the CLARITY Act doesn’t reach the Senate by May, it could be delayed until 2027, he said, citing the likelihood that midterm campaign activities will take over after the summer and push major legislative action off the calendar.
At the time of writing, Ripple’s related cryptocurrency, XRP, was trading at $1.37. It was up 5% from the previous week, in line with the recovery in the broader cryptocurrency market during the period.
Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com
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