The banking industry struck back at a White House report that banning stablecoin yield wouldn’t harm banks, saying it asked the wrong question and thus got the wrong answer. On April 8, the White House Council of Economic Advisors argued that banning yield — interest — on stablecoins would do little to help banks, especially community banks, and could instead deprive consumers of better returns. In an April 13 reply in the American Banking Association’s Banking Journal, the ABA’s chief economist, Sayee Srinivasan, and vice president for banking and economic research, Yikai Wang, said that the main “policy concern is not whether prohibiting yield on payment stablecoins would help bank…
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Circle Won’t Freeze Stolen USDC Without Court Order
CEO Allaire defends refusal to act during hacks
In the face of growing criticism, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire defended the USDC-issuer’s policy of refusing to freeze its stablecoins immediately after hacks and exploits. While leading stablecoin issuer Tether freezes its USDT stablecoins if it can be done in time — often within hours of a reported hack — to prevent stolen funds from being moved, Circle does not. It has been criticized for refusing to act while stolen funds are still in a position to be seized and restored to their rightful owners. Speaking during a press conference in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday, Allaire explained that as a regulated financial product, it cannot freeze tokens on a…
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Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong Calls for Passage of Clarity Act
Stablecoin yield fight may be resolved
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong called on the Senate to pass the Clarity Act, following up on Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s call in a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed yesterday. Armstrong’s move, in a Thursday evening tweet, is particularly relevant as he was the prime mover in holding up progress on the Act, withdrawing support for an earlier version a day before it was scheduled for markup by the Senate Banking Committee. That move by the biggest U.S. exchange caused the committee’s leadership to delay markup, a necessary step before sending the bill to the full Senate. Armstrong’s opposition was based in large part on the earlier version’s ban on third…
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Treasury Secretary Pushes Clarity Act
Sec’y Bessent: ‘The time to act is now’
Noting that nearly one in six Americans now own digital assets, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday pushed the Senate to pass the crypto-regulating Clarity Act as soon as possible. In a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed, Bessent argued that with Senate floor time getting scarcer by the day, “now is the time to act.” Congress will soon be sidetracked by the midterm elections, and the Trump Administration wants the Clarity Act passed before a potential change of control in the House and Senate, where the GOP is expected to lose a significant number of seats.. Republicans have warned the crypto industry that it will get a better deal from a…
