The U.S. Banking Industry Jointly Calls on the Senate to Amend the Stablecoin Provision of the "CLARITY Act"

July 29th, a group of 134 U.S. bank association officials and bank executives urged the Senate to pass the final version of the "Cryptocurrency Market Structure Act" (known as the CLARITY Act) before amending Section 10404 to strengthen restrictions on the interest and yield on payment stablecoins. The banking officials hope that lawmakers will expand the scope of the restrictions to prevent companies from providing similar economic benefits to stablecoin holders through rewards, incentives, or other arrangements. They stated that if stablecoins could attract and retain balances through interest-like rewards, the funding base for supporting local lending could be weakened by hundreds of billions of dollars.

The letter argues that deposits are the foundation for issuing loans to families, small businesses, farmers, and local employers. The signatories stated that clear rules would allow the development of payment stablecoins while preserving funding channels that support community lending.