The American Bankers Association (ABA), together with the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) and 76 regional associations, sent a letter to the Senate demanding stricter wording in the CLARITY Act bill. The main point of contention is Section 404, concerning stablecoin yields. The organizations support the creation of a regulated digital asset market but insist on eliminating ambiguities that, in their view, allow crypto companies to pay rewards that are economically identical to bank deposit interest.
Banking lobbyists argue that the current wording of the bill leaves room for maneuver: "Ambiguities could facilitate the emergence of stablecoin schemes that effectively become substitutes for deposits." They emphasize that payment stablecoins should be used exclusively for transactions, not for long-term storage to generate passive income.
Dispute over reward programs
The current version of the CLARITY Act directly prohibits stablecoin issuers and related companies from paying U.S. customers interest or yields on balances. However, the document allows rewards for actual actions — for example, for executing transactions. Specific criteria are to be jointly developed by the SEC, CFTC, and the U.S. Treasury Department.
Banks consider this line blurred. They propose clearly stipulating that payments cannot depend on the number of stablecoins, the duration of their holding, or the length of time spent on the platform. Additionally, the associations insist on replacing the criterion of "functional and economic equivalent" with a broader standard of "substantial similarity." This, in their view, would make it harder to circumvent the ban through bonus programs.
The letter's authors warn that a massive outflow of deposits into stablecoins could significantly reduce regional banks' resources for mortgage, agricultural, and small business lending.
CLARITY Act: Awaiting a vote
The CLARITY Act bill aims to establish a federal regulatory system for digital assets and delineate the powers of the SEC and CFTC. In May, the Senate Banking Committee approved it by a vote of 15 to 9. The document now must be considered by the full chamber, but the voting date has not yet been set.
Pressure on lawmakers is growing. In July, CFTC Chairman Michael Selig urged speeding up the bill's passage, threatening that regulators would "write all the rules" for the crypto industry themselves. Later, U.S. President Donald Trump made a similar demand. Previously, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon criticized the CLARITY Act for allowing rewards to stablecoin holders, stating that crypto companies wishing to offer an analogue of bank interest should obtain appropriate licenses.
Expert opinion: The banking lobby in the U.S. is consistently fighting to maintain its monopoly on deposit products. The demand to replace "functional equivalent" with "substantial similarity" is an attempt to expand the ban as broadly as possible, so that any, even indirect, loyalty programs in stablecoins fall under it. If the law is passed in this form, it could seriously limit innovation in DeFi and reduce the attractiveness of stablecoins as a savings tool.