Cryptowire, WASHINGTON: Circle Internet Group led a rally in crypto-linked stocks on May 4, climbing 19.9% to close at $119.53 after renewed movement in Congress around the CLARITY Act lifted sentiment across the sector. Coinbase gained 6.1%, Robinhood Markets rose 3.9% and Strategy added 3.8%. The gains came even as broader U.S. equities weakened, underscoring how digital-asset shares were trading primarily on crypto-specific policy and price catalysts.
The immediate trigger was a bipartisan compromise on stablecoin rewards between Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks, a step that helped put the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act back on track for Senate action. Reports on the agreement said it would bar interest-like returns on idle stablecoin balances while allowing certain activity-based rewards. That distinction has been a key sticking point in talks involving the Senate Banking Committee and industry participants.
Circle was at the center of the move because it issues USDC, one of the largest dollar-pegged stablecoins. Circle says USDC is fully reserved and redeemable one-to-one for U.S. dollars, leaving the company more directly exposed than many peers to any shift in the treatment of stablecoins under federal law. Bitcoin also added to the momentum, briefly trading above $80,000 for the first time since January and lifting sentiment toward crypto exchanges, holders and infrastructure names.
Crypto compromise revives Senate path
The CLARITY Act is the House-passed market structure bill designed to draw clearer lines between oversight by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The House approved H.R. 3633 by a 294-134 vote in July 2025. House materials describe the measure as creating registration pathways for certain digital-asset intermediaries, setting customer protection and disclosure requirements, and applying Bank Secrecy Act obligations to parts of the market that have operated without a tailored federal framework.
In the Senate, the bill remains unfinished, but public statements from Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott indicated the measure was nearing consensus. In remarks released on April 30, Scott said the committee was working toward a bipartisan markup in May and then a floor vote. Those comments, combined with the Tillis-Alsobrooks compromise, gave investors a fresh signal that the legislation had moved beyond a prolonged procedural impasse, even though no final Senate vote has been taken and no law has yet been enacted.
Banks still press objections
Opposition has not disappeared. Banking trade groups said the latest language on stablecoin rewards still left important questions unresolved and argued that reward programs tied to memberships, balances or account tenure could remain too close to deposit-like incentives. That kept a note of caution in the market response. Still, the rally showed that investors viewed clearer ground rules for stablecoins as materially relevant for Circle, Coinbase and other businesses tied to trading, custody and digital-dollar payment activity.
May 4’s gains reflected a combination of legislative progress and stronger crypto prices, with Circle emerging as the clearest equity proxy for the stablecoin debate in Washington. Circle and Coinbase both ended the session sharply higher, while bitcoin’s move back above $80,000 added support to the broader group. For public crypto companies, the trading action illustrated how quickly valuations can respond when Congress narrows unresolved questions over market structure and stablecoin rules.