The U.S. Senate has just announced the delay of the review process for the CLARITY Act, pushing the timeline to the end of January 2026. This bill, originally intended to clarify the jurisdictional boundaries between the SEC and CFTC, is now stuck on several key issues.

**Why the delay?** There are a few core conflicts that cannot be resolved. First, the issue of stablecoin yields—many traditional financial institutions and regulatory critics want to tighten restrictions on "indirect" stablecoin rewards, fearing that these products could siphon deposits that would otherwise stay in traditional banks. Second, there is the challenge of defining and regulating DeFi—legislators are repeatedly torn between "control" and "code," especially since many DeFi protocols have no central operator, making regulation difficult. The third issue is the political timetable—midterm elections in 2026 are approaching, and the window for pushing "neutral" legislation is rapidly closing.

**What does this provoke?** Will stricter rules ultimately attract institutional capital? Or will they, conversely, stifle the permissionless innovation that makes cryptocurrency unique? This is a real concern. If the bill ends up being too restrictive, we might see innovation flow overseas. If regulation is too lax, the market could replay some of the past crashes.

From a DeFi perspective, this bill itself is a dilemma—completely excluding DeFi is unrealistic, but including it is highly controversial. This stalemate has lasted several months, and there still seems to be no clear solution that satisfies both regulation and innovation.