TD Cowen Says Banks and Crypto Remain at Odds Over Clarity Act

TD Cowen and Brad Garlinghouse say the CLARITY Act faces a critical near-term window as banks dispute whether stablecoin reward limits adequately prevent crypto yield from resembling deposit interest.

XRP

Fact Check
The claim is strongly supported by multiple converging lines of evidence. The three caller-supplied X links (resolving to @WatcherGuru, @Crypto_Briefing, and @AshCrypto) all report the same statement on May 4, 2026, and the X post search confirms dozens of independent retweets of these accounts within minutes of each other, consistent with a genuine breaking news event. CoinDesk's March 17, 2026 article directly attributes 'real progress' language on crypto market structure negotiations to Tim Scott, and The Block's December 2025 article quotes him using the same phrase. The Galaxy Research CLARITY Act update from April 2026 confirms the legislation was actively advancing in Congress at the time. Tim Scott, as Senate Banking Committee Chair, is the primary Senate figure on this legislation, making him the natural source for such a statement. No conflicting evidence was found. The only uncertainty is the absence of a direct primary source (e.g., a Tim Scott press release or official Senate statement) from May 4, 2026 itself, as the available sources are all news aggregators and secondary reporters.
Summary

TD Cowen said banks and crypto interests still have no compromise on the CLARITY Act, a U.S. crypto market-structure bill, while Ripple Chief Executive Brad Garlinghouse said the next two weeks are critical for its chances of advancing. The dispute centers on whether draft language clearly bans bank-like interest on payment stablecoins while still allowing incentives that are not economically comparable to deposit interest. Five banking groups jointly rejected a compromise proposal as insufficient, and earlier reporting identified the American Bankers Association, the Bank Policy Institute, and the Consumer Bankers Association among those seeking stronger protections. Garlinghouse, speaking at CoinDesk’s Consensus Miami event, said the bill is imperfect but preferable to regulatory uncertainty and that failure to move soon through the Senate Banking Committee would sharply reduce its prospects. Reporting also said some banks worry the language is too narrow and could let crypto firms restructure yield-like rewards, while others appear more comfortable with the compromise.

Terms & Concepts
  • CLARITY Act: A proposed U.S. crypto market-structure bill that would define how digital assets are regulated and set rules for issues including stablecoin-related activities.
  • Payment stablecoins: Digital tokens designed to maintain a stable value for payments or transfers rather than price speculation.
  • Markup: A legislative stage in which lawmakers review, debate, and amend a bill before advancing it.