David Solomon, CEO of banking giant Goldman Sachs, has weighed in on the pending digital asset market structure legislation, action on which was recently postponed by the US Senate Banking Committee.
In a Thursday earnings call discussing the company’s fourth quarter results for 2025, Solomon said many people at Goldman Sachs were “extremely focused” on issues including the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act in the US Congress due to its potential impact on tokenization and stablecoins.
A markup of the bill scheduled for Thursday was postponed after Coinbase said it would no longer support the legislation as written. In a markup session, a congressional committee debates a bill and proposes amendments while considering whether it should advance to the full chamber for a vote.
“That bill, based on the news over the last 24 hours, has a long way to go before that bill is gonna progress,” said Solomon. “But I do think these innovations are important.”
The CEO’s remarks come amid pressure from many banks, cryptocurrency exchanges and companies involved in decentralized finance pushing for amendments in the CLARITY Act to suit their interests and those of their users. Among the issues over which they have voiced concerns include how the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will handle tokenized equities and stablecoin rewards.
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Solomon also signaled that Goldman Sachs was considering business opportunities for prediction markets, saying that he met with representatives in the previous two weeks. Polymarket and Kalshi are popular prediction markets among crypto users.
Banks targeting stablecoin rewards in GENIUS Act, and now CLARITY?
Other industry leaders are anticipating that it could be weeks or months before the Banking Committee schedules another markup. Congress also needs to pass another funding bill before the end of January to avoid a government shutdown after the longest one in the country’s history delayed consideration of the CLARITY Act in 2025.
Some interest groups representing banks have lobbied for the bill to prohibit interest-bearing stablecoins. The most recent draft in the Banking Committee, before the markup was postponed, suggested that lawmakers were looking to ban passive returns on stablecoin balances, but not completely rule out rewards on the digital assets.
As of Thursday, no markup appeared on the Banking Committee’s calendar. However, the Senate Agriculture Committee is scheduled to hold a markup on its version of the market structure bill on Jan. 27.
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