Stablecoin Rewards Keep Flowing Despite CLARITY Act Defeat

The Stablecoin Rewards that Continued Despite the CLARITY Act's Failure

The Senate failed to pass the CLARITY Act on September 15, 2026, but stablecoin rewards continued uninterrupted. These rewards are similar to interest on savings accounts and are paid for holding dollar-pegged tokens.

Circle reported an average USDC circulation of $76.5 billion in Q2 2026, yielding $668 million in reserve income, a 5% year-over-year increase. Coinbase earned $292 million from stablecoins, about a quarter of its total revenue.

The Federal Reserve sets the target rate, which reached a 4.00% upper bound on September 16, and short-dated Treasury bills yield roughly 3.87% to 4.08%. Circle collects this as reserve income and shares it with Coinbase, which distributes a portion to users as rewards.