Clarity Act May Shift Crypto to 'Use-to-Earn' Model, Sparking Yield-as-a-Service Market

The Clarity Act could do more than tidy up crypto law — it may create an entirely new market for “yield-as-a-service,” according to Joe Vollono, chief commercial officer at stablecoin infrastructure firm STBL. At the heart of the conversation is Section 404 of the proposed legislation, which would bar Digital Asset Service Providers (DASPs) and their affiliates from offering yield purely for holding a digital asset. If adopted, that rule would push the industry away from passive “hold-to-earn” offerings toward active, compliance-first ways to generate returns. “What this effectively does is shift the industry from a hold-to-earn market to a use-to-earn market,” Vollono told CoinDesk. “You’re going to need compliant yield strategies to generate rewards on what would otherwise be idle capital.” Where the bill stands and what comes next The Clarity Act has already passed the Senate Banking Committee and looks set to be merged with a version from the Senate Agriculture Committee before reconciliation with the House. With an optimistic schedule, a full Senate vote could come as soon as July, after which regulators would have roughly 12 months to put the new framework into practice. Supporters say the bill’s biggest win is legal certainty: it would establish the first comprehensive U.S. regulatory framework for digital assets and resolve long-standing jurisdictional questions about whether tokens fall under SEC or CFTC oversight. That clarity, proponents argue, is necessary before large institutional investors, banks and asset managers comfortably commit capital at scale. “Once these issues are resolved, it allows capital at scale to enter the market,” Vollono said. “That’s the real catalyst here.” Yield-as-a-service: how it might work Vollono believes Section 404 could catalyze a middle layer of regulated infrastructure providers that deliver compliant yield to holders who can no longer earn returns simply by sitting on tokens. He expects many of these services to be automated and orchestrated by artificial intelligence, handling regulated capital flows and routing funds through compliant on- and off-chain engines. Potential beneficiaries include: - DeFi infrastructure providers and vault curators - Collateral management platforms and automated treasury services - Lending markets and rewards systems “The underlying tech stack already exists — smart contracts, oracles, DeFi rails and API-based infrastructure,” Vollono said. “This creates a whole new world.” Banks, deposits and the push-pull over stablecoins The legislation also highlights tensions between traditional banks and crypto firms, particularly around stablecoins and the risk of deposit migration. Banks worry about deposit flight if customers shift into tokenized dollars or yield-bearing blockchain products, a scenario that could pressure the fractional-reserve banking model. Vollono downplayed the existential threat to banks, arguing that “smart incumbents are going to compete” rather than cede market share. He suggested banks could adapt within the Clarity framework — for example, collateralizing reserves to issue their own stablecoins and offer compliant yield — spawning new business models rather than destroying old ones. STBL’s play: “stablecoin 2.0” STBL positions itself at the center of this potential transition. The firm calls its approach “stablecoin 2.0”: infrastructure that lets users mint stablecoins backed by real-world assets while keeping the economics of the underlying reserves flowing to participants, not concentrated with a centralized issuer. That design aims to support compliant yield management and let users capture the yield generated by reserve assets. “Users that provide value into the ecosystem should participate in the economics,” Vollono said. “I’ll tell you what the Act makes clear: money-as-a-service has arrived.” Why it matters If passed, the Clarity Act could be an industry inflection point — not just by imposing new limits on passive, hold-to-earn products, but by creating opportunities for compliant, automated yield-generation businesses and attracting institutional capital that has so far stayed on the sidelines. The regulatory clock that follows enactment could reshape how capital is managed and distributed in crypto, and could accelerate a wave of new financial plumbing built to meet both compliance requirements and market demand.