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The Digital Chamber, a cryptocurrency industry organization, responded to Senator Elizabeth Warren's concerns regarding the recent approval of national trust charters by the OCC, stating that her claims about cryptocurrency companies being "improperly approved" are unfounded.Previously, Warren wrote to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), stating that the recent approvals granted to digital asset companies such as Ripple, Circle, Paxos, Fidelity, BitGo, and Coinbase may violate the National Bank Act and have not adhered to the same regulatory standards as traditional banks.The Digital Chamber stated that the OCC has the authority to grant national trust charters to qualified institutions, and that these arrangements do not equate to a relaxation of regulation. The organization represents over 250 cryptocurrency-related entities and believes that these charters help to integrate digital asset services into a clearer federal regulatory framework.

Senator Lummis stated that the CLARITY Act will end the regulatory ambiguity faced by American crypto consumers and the industry.

U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis from Wyoming stated, "No rules do not mean no harm, but rather mean no recourse," and reiterated her push for the Clarity Act legislation over the years, emphasizing that the bill aims to provide a clear regulatory framework for the development of digital assets within the United States.

Y Combinator has launched the YC Crypto Deals program to help startups obtain funding, gas fee credits, and crypto infrastructure support from partners such as Solana Foundation, QuickNode, Helius, and Phantom.

Cointelegraph posted on the X platform that the governor of South Carolina has signed Bill S.163. The bill protects the self-custody rights of Bitcoin, prohibits discriminatory taxes on Bitcoin, and safeguards the rights of proof-of-work mining in the state.

On May 18, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) stating that the agency has improperly granted national trust charters to at least nine cryptocurrency companies since December 2025. Elizabeth Warren pointed out that the businesses these companies plan to engage in exceed the limited functions allowed by law for national trust banks, essentially attempting to circumvent the fundamental protections and obligations of banking through crypto banking. It is reported that the companies that have received or conditionally approved include Ripple, Circle, Paxos, Fidelity, BitGo, Coinbase, Stripe's subsidiary Bridge, and Crypto.com. The American Bankers Association urged the OCC in February to slow down the approval of related licenses, and Elizabeth Warren warned that this move would weaken consumer protections and pose regulatory arbitrage risks.

According to Bloomberg, Senator Elizabeth Warren has questioned the decision by financial regulators to allow cryptocurrency companies into the banking system. The Massachusetts Democrat wrote to Jonathan Gould, head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), pointing out that the regulator has approved at least 9 national trust charters for crypto companies that "seem to be unqualified." Warren stated that these charters "appear to far exceed the narrow scope of activities permitted by law," constituting a "clear violation of the National Bank Act." She questioned whether the OCC adhered to relevant legal provisions during the approval process and requested clarification on the compliance of these cryptocurrency companies in obtaining banking charters.

According to Cryptopolitan, U.S. Senator Lummis stated in an interview with CNBC that large banks are trying to block the advancement of clear cryptocurrency regulatory legislation because they cannot compete with the crypto industry.She emphasized that the popularity of Bitcoin is unstoppable, "this will become the financial system of the future."

The CLARITY Act has been reviewed by the U.S. Senate Banking Committee today and will next enter the full Senate voting stage.According to Mars Finance, the market is optimistic about the completion of the legislation this year, with the success probability predicted by the market Polymarket exceeding 70%. However, the bill must first pass the critical procedural threshold of the "motion to end debate," which requires at least 60 votes in favor from the 100 senators; otherwise, it may face indefinite delays.Reports indicate that two Democratic senators have explicitly crossed party lines to support the bill, and all 51 Republican senators are expected to vote in favor. Therefore, at least 7 Democratic senators' support is still needed to advance the bill to the final voting stage.In addition, the CLARITY Act will need to be integrated with the version from the Senate Agriculture Committee. The Banking Committee version mainly involves the SEC regulatory framework, securities classification, trading platform registration, and DeFi protection; the Agriculture Committee version focuses on CFTC regulation, digital commodity spot and derivatives markets, among other areas. The final unified text will be submitted for Trump’s signature after being voted on by both houses.Previous news: The U.S. Senate Banking Committee passed the CLARITY Act with a vote result of 15:9.

Democratic Senator Jack Reed stated at the CLARITY bill hearing that Iran is using cryptocurrency to procure sensitive goods, and the drones they are acquiring are wreaking havoc in the Persian Gulf. Moreover, most of this funding has turned into stablecoins. If we truly support our military, we should cut off their (Iran's) funding sources.

U.S. Senator Warren requests the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate the cryptocurrency company of President Trump's family.

Crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett revealed that U.S. Senator Jack Reed submitted an amendment before the stablecoin bill review this Thursday, aiming to explicitly prohibit cryptocurrencies from being used as legal tender, including banning the payment of taxes with crypto assets.Senator Elizabeth Warren also submitted over 40 amendments, one of which aims to prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing master accounts to cryptocurrency companies. Another amendment jointly submitted by Senators Reed and Smith seeks to include restrictions on banks regarding stablecoin yields in the bill.

U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis stated that after nearly a year of bipartisan cooperation, the U.S. Digital Asset Market Structure Act (CLARITY Act) is set to enter the committee review stage this week, bringing the U.S. closer to "consolidating its global leadership in financial innovation." Lummis said, "Wyoming has been a pioneer in exploration, and now Washington is following suit."Previously, Republican members of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee announced that Committee Chairman Tim Scott, Lummis, and Thom Tillis have jointly released the text of the market structure bill. According to the statement, the bill aims to establish a clear regulatory framework for the digital asset industry, protect investors, combat illegal financial activities, and encourage innovation to remain in the U.S.

According to a post by Galaxy Digital on Sunday, seven Democratic senators on the Senate Banking Committee may be the key force behind the passage of the Digital Asset Market Clarification Act (CLARITY Act), which is scheduled for committee review on Thursday.Galaxy identified Ruben Gallego and Angela Alsobrooks as constructive/supportive; Mark Warner, Catherine Cortez Masto, Andy Kim, and Raphael Warnock were listed as conditional facilitators, having voted in favor of the GENIUS Act but calling for strengthened safeguards such as anti-money laundering measures; Lisa Blunt Rochester was marked as having an uncertain stance, having supported the crypto framework but voting against the GENIUS Act.Galaxy stated that if Democrats vote in support during the review, the likelihood of the bill passing in the full Senate would significantly increase. The bill needs the support of at least half of the 24 members of the Banking Committee to proceed to a full Senate vote. Coinbase's Vice President of U.S. Policy, Kara Calvert, pointed out that the bill requires at least 60 votes and bipartisan support to become law in the Senate. The CLARITY Act was proposed in July 2025 and was stalled earlier this year when Coinbase withdrew its support.

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, requesting him to disclose Meta's latest plans in the stablecoin sector and expressing concerns about its recent push for stablecoin payment integration.Warren stated that the transparency of Meta's stablecoin project is deeply concerning, especially considering the widespread regulatory controversies that arose from its earlier launch of the Libra (later renamed Diem) global stablecoin initiative. She asserted that Meta's new attempts in the payment and financial services sector should be subject to careful scrutiny. Warren demanded that Meta clarify the details of its stablecoin pilot program by May 20, including the launch timeline, the third-party stablecoins involved, and related privacy and risk control measures. It is reported that Meta has been testing USDC-based stablecoin payment functionality with select content creators in the Philippines and Colombia since April. Currently, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee is reviewing the digital asset market structure bill known as the CLARITY Act, where the regulatory framework for stablecoins and issues of conflicts of interest remain contentious points. As a senior Democratic member of the committee, Warren has long held a cautious stance on large tech companies' involvement in crypto finance.

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote to Mark Zuckerberg, requesting more information from Meta regarding its latest stablecoin plan and criticizing the company's "lack of transparency" in related business as concerning.In her letter, Elizabeth Warren stated that given Meta's vast global user base, any stablecoin-related business could have a significant impact on market competition, user privacy, the integrity of payment systems, and financial stability. Previously disclosed information indicated that Facebook has been testing stablecoin payment features for certain creators in Colombia and the Philippines, with the plan based on USD Coin (USDC), requiring users to link a third-party crypto wallet address. A Meta spokesperson responded that the company "does not have a Meta stablecoin," and currently only hopes that users and merchants can use various payment methods, including third-party stablecoins, on the platform. Notably, Meta launched the stablecoin project Libra (later renamed Diem) in 2019, but ultimately terminated it in 2022 due to regulatory pressure. Warren has long been one of the toughest critics of cryptocurrency in the U.S. Congress and has repeatedly questioned Meta's stablecoin plans.

According to The Block, the well-known startup accelerator Y Combinator will hold interviews in New York City for the first time, focusing on fintech and cryptocurrency startups, hoping to support more companies in this field.YC stated on Wednesday: "This is the first time YC has moved the interview process for a specific industry offline in this way, as they are meeting with founders who are forming a key ecosystem."A YC spokesperson said the interviews will take place offline in New York on May 21. The standard investment terms for selected startups are a $500,000 investment for 7% equity. Earlier this year, after YC launched this option, startups can also choose to receive funding in the form of Circle's stablecoin USDC.The YC Winter 2026 batch includes several crypto and fintech startups, including the financial infrastructure Sponge Wallet for the AI agent economy, the crypto deposit service provider Unifold, the unified trading platform for crypto, real-world assets, and prediction markets Sequence Markets, and the cross-platform trading platform for prediction markets Valence.Since its establishment in 2005, YC has invested in over 5,000 companies, with a total valuation exceeding $1 trillion. Its portfolio includes OpenAI, Airbnb, Stripe, and Reddit. YC's first crypto investment was in Coinbase in 2012, and it has since invested in over 150 crypto and fintech companies, including the prediction market platform Kalshi, the DeFi trading platform Axiom, and the NFT marketplace OpenSea. Last year, YC partnered with Coinbase to support startups building on-chain infrastructure, which YC referred to as "Fintech 3.0."

According to Bitcoin Magazine, U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno stated that they will review legislation on Bitcoin and the structure of the cryptocurrency market "next week."Moreno said, "We will send it to the president's desk by the end of June, and he will sign it into law before July 4."

According to Techfundingnews, AI law firm Moritz, co-founded by former OpenAI legal advisor Pamir Ehsas, announced the completion of a $9 million funding round, led by Y Combinator and 20VC, with participation from Urban Innovation Fund, Inception, and founders of several tech companies including Reddit, Dropbox, and Hugging Face.Moritz positions itself as an "AI-native law firm," offering fixed-price legal services, with most drafting and research work completed by artificial intelligence, followed by review and legal responsibility taken on by lawyers.

Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett posted on the X platform that U.S. Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks issued a joint statement regarding the compromise proposal on stablecoin earnings in Section 404 of the CLARITY Act. The statement may indicate that the relevant agreement is close to being finalized.The statement said that the two have discussed concerns from various stakeholders about the banking industry's worries regarding deposit outflows, and the related compromise proposal will prohibit stablecoin rewards similar to bank deposit interest while allowing crypto companies to offer other forms of customer rewards.