Major crypto bill set to get first vote on May 14 in Senate Banking
Chairman Tim Scott, R.S.C., hears testimony from Kevin Warsh in the Dirksen building on Tuesday, April 21, 2026.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
A major rules bill for the crypto industry will come up for a first vote in the Senate Banking Committee on May 14.
The step that would move the legislation forward is a loss for the banking sector. Banks have argued that proposed legislative language limiting when stablecoins can earn interest is still too similar to yield-generating products like savings accounts and could threaten traditional banks and their deposits. Historically, interest in the reward format has been a significant incentive for users to hold stablecoins.
Scott told Fox Business last week that he wanted “13 out of 13 Republicans on board,” referring to all GOP members on the committee.
It’s unclear whether any Democrats will vote for the bill, given the differences that have yet to be resolved, including provisions that would limit how politicians can profit from digital assets.
Many senators and industry experts have suggested the bill could be amended to gain Democratic support between a committee vote and a potential vote in the Senate. But time is running out for lawmakers to resolve differences in this chamber, and it is unclear whether the House will want to make its own changes.
The committee was set to advance the bill in January but was canceled at the 11th hour after both the banking and crypto industries expressed concerns about the legislation.
Including crypto companies coinbase Sen. Thom Tillis, R.N.C. and Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., now take that view after issuing a compromise proposal on how crypto companies could offer rewards to stablecoin users that wouldn’t compete with the returns banks offer on deposits. Stabecoin is a digital currency designed to maintain a consistent value by pegging it to a reserve currency, usually the US dollar.
But groups representing both commercial and community banks say the language protecting bank deposits is “inadequate.”
Tillis acknowledged in a post on X that banks might not be happy with the statement “we respectfully disagree.”
