A vote in the U.S. Senate on the cryptocurrency market structure bill known as the CLARITY Act is expected to be delayed again.

CoinPost, a blockchain media outlet, reported on April 16 that the Senate Banking Committee is increasingly likely to postpone the bill's amendment and voting procedures until late April or the second week of May.

One reason for the delay is the nomination hearing for Kevin Warsh (케빈 워시), a candidate to become the next chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve. The Senate Banking Committee scheduled Warsh's hearing for April 21 and put related items first. The committee's agenda for next week, released by Chairman Tim Scott, does not include a CLARITY Act vote.

That has raised concerns in and outside the market about whether the bill itself could be thrown off track. Paradigm Vice President Justin Slaughter (저스틴 슬로터) said the practical deadline is after Memorial Day at the end of May, and that progress is possible in the remaining 6 to 7 weeks. He said it is too early to see the scheduling slip as a move toward scrapping the bill.

A dispute over stablecoin interest payments has emerged as a late-stage issue in the bill. Senator Thom Tillis said he plans to release this week a draft compromise on the issue of "stablecoin yield," a point of long-running conflict between banks and the crypto industry. Banks are concerned about deposit outflows, while the industry views interest payments as a key tool for broader adoption, meaning the adjustment could also affect the vote timetable.

The bill's detailed provisions are now undergoing final adjustments, centred on ethics rules and tokenisation-related sections. Challenges linked to decentralised finance and revenue structures have largely been resolved, but a legal dispute involving Justin Sun and the Trump family-backed World Liberty Financial (WLFI) project has surfaced, raising the possibility that some lawmakers may seek stronger ethics rules.

Warsh's nomination process has also emerged as a separate variable. Warsh was confirmed to hold more than $100 million in assets through financial disclosure documents released this week. His investments include multiple crypto-related companies and projects, including Polymarket, SpaceX, Solana's SOL token and Ethereum layer-2 networks.

At the Senate hearing, the key scrutiny is expected to focus on whether Warsh's crypto-related holdings amount to a conflict of interest and how he would dispose of the assets. Warsh is being described as the most pro-crypto chair candidate in history, but that could also increase scrutiny of his ethics and independence.

Market participants are watching whether the Fed could take a more favourable stance toward crypto if Warsh becomes Fed chair. For now, the nomination process has taken priority, leaving the timing of any CLARITY Act action dependent on the Senate Banking Committee's next schedule and whether amendments are released. Stablecoin yield rules and adjustments to ethics provisions would need to be completed for the bill to return to a voting track.