White House to lead talks on digital asset legislation with banks and crypto firms

Photo: The White House

White House to lead talks on digital asset legislation with banks and crypto firms

Meeting focuses on whether crypto platforms can offer interest or rewards on dollar backed tokens as Senate bill nears a critical phase.

Estefano Gomez

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Updated 1:24 p.m. ET

The White House will convene talks next week with executives from major banks and crypto companies to discuss the path forward for US digital asset legislation, according to a Reuters report.

The discussions will center on how the Clarity Act treats interest and other rewards offered on customer holdings of dollar-pegged stablecoins.

The Clarity Act aims to establish federal rules for digital assets following years of industry lobbying for clearer regulation.

Crypto firms argue that offering rewards such as interest is critical for attracting and retaining users, and that restricting these incentives would be anti-competitive.

Banks counter that allowing yield on stablecoins could drain deposits from insured lenders and threaten financial stability by weakening a core source of bank funding, with Standard Chartered warning that stablecoins could pull up to $500 billion out of US bank deposits by 2028.

The dispute stems from a stablecoin framework passed last year that barred issuers from paying interest but left open whether third parties such as exchanges could offer rewards on stablecoin balances.

That ambiguity has become a central fault line as lawmakers work to finalize broader crypto legislation.

White House to lead talks on digital asset legislation with banks and crypto firms

White House to lead talks on digital asset legislation with banks and crypto firms

Meeting focuses on whether crypto platforms can offer interest or rewards on dollar backed tokens as Senate bill nears a critical phase.

Photo: The White House

The White House will convene talks next week with executives from major banks and crypto companies to discuss the path forward for US digital asset legislation, according to a Reuters report.

The discussions will center on how the Clarity Act treats interest and other rewards offered on customer holdings of dollar-pegged stablecoins.

The Clarity Act aims to establish federal rules for digital assets following years of industry lobbying for clearer regulation.

Crypto firms argue that offering rewards such as interest is critical for attracting and retaining users, and that restricting these incentives would be anti-competitive.

Banks counter that allowing yield on stablecoins could drain deposits from insured lenders and threaten financial stability by weakening a core source of bank funding, with Standard Chartered warning that stablecoins could pull up to $500 billion out of US bank deposits by 2028.

The dispute stems from a stablecoin framework passed last year that barred issuers from paying interest but left open whether third parties such as exchanges could offer rewards on stablecoin balances.

That ambiguity has become a central fault line as lawmakers work to finalize broader crypto legislation.