Stablecoins gain policy traction as CLARITY Act advances

• Lyla Velez
• February 20, 2026
• News
• 0 Comments

Key Points:

• Stablecoins enable instant, 24/7, programmable payments beyond speculative crypto trading.
• Tokenization digitizes issuance, custody, and lifecycle management, improving efficiency and liquidity.
• Emerging rails abstract crypto complexity, letting consumers pay merchants with stablecoins.

Stablecoins are pushing crypto beyond trading by enabling near-instant settlement, 24/7 availability, and programmable payments. Tokenization is also emerging as a way to digitize issuance, custody, and lifecycle management of assets.

According to Goldman Sachs’ digital assets lead Mathew McDermott, tokenized real-world assets can improve operational efficiency, enhance liquidity, and broaden investor access, with the largest opportunities in modernizing capital markets infrastructure. These use cases shift crypto from speculative activity toward core financial plumbing.

Mastercard has framed recent stablecoin regulation as a milestone for payments, noting investment in tooling that could let consumers use stablecoins at familiar merchants. This points to practical rails that abstract away crypto’s complexity for end users.

Why it matters now: regulatory momentum and institutional adoption

Stablecoin regulation and market-structure proposals signal an intent to standardize supervision, reserves, and risk controls. Clear rules tend to reduce legal ambiguity, which can encourage banks, payment networks, and fintechs to productize stablecoin settlement and tokenized issuance.

According to the U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, well-regulated dollar stablecoins could expand access to the dollar economy globally and even increase demand for U.S. Treasuries. That framing positions stablecoins as public–private infrastructure rather than a purely speculative instrument.

Against that backdrop, a leading U.S. exchange executive has characterized the shift in direct terms. “Crypto is updating the entire financial system, from trading to payment,” said Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase.

As reported by Decrypt, Armstrong has also downplayed near-term quantum-computing risks to blockchain cryptography as a solvable engineering issue. This suggests technology risk is viewed as manageable under active research and governance.

Clarity Act status and market structure bill implications

Interest in the Clarity Act has risen alongside remarks that a broader market structure bill is “making great progress,” as reported by Stocktwits News. While timelines are uncertain, the direction implies tighter definitions, clearer supervisory lines, and codified paths for compliant activity.

If enacted, such laws would likely address stablecoin regulation, reserve requirements, disclosures, and oversight across issuers and intermediaries. According to BreakingCrypto via markets.financialcontent.com, experts caution that implementation details and compliance burdens could advantage large incumbents unless access and interoperability are prioritized.

At the time of this writing, Bitcoin (BTC) traded around $67,258, with very high recent volatility near 11.75% and an RSI near 35.7. Price levels provide context only and do not alter the policy trajectory described above.