Scott Bessent Says Coinbase Is Blocking the Crypto Bill

White House meeting puts stablecoin yields at the center of CLARITY Act negotiations

The White House meeting is a signal that stablecoin yield has become less of a niche product debate and more of a market structure issue. If stablecoins are the settlement cash for crypto trading, then who can pay rewards on dollar tokens shapes where user balances sit and how quickly liquidity migrates between banks and on chain venues.

Crypto in America reported the Feb. 10 session was expected to include senior policy staff from major banks and representatives from trade groups including the Bank Policy Institute, the American Bankers Association, and the Independent Community Bankers of America, along with crypto industry delegates, and said company CEOs were not expected to attend.

It was not immediately clear what specific language, if any, negotiators planned to change in the bill text, or whether the White House would propose a separate regulatory route for rewards programs.

Banks frame stablecoin rewards as deposit competition, crypto firms call it innovation

For banks, the risk is straightforward. Stablecoin rewards can look like interest on a cash like balance, and that can compete with deposits, the lowest cost funding source for bank lending and payments.

That is why the yield debate often turns into a fight over who captures the return on Treasury bills and other short dated collateral that backs dollar tokens, with banks seeking to keep more of the spread on customer money while crypto platforms try to share more yield with users.

The concern is not theoretical. Banking trade groups argued in a formal comment letter that stablecoin yield design can pressure deposits and increase funding volatility, a risk argument that has influenced the policy debate in Washington.

Stablecoin law is also part of the backdrop. The GENIUS Act bans issuer paid interest or yield on payment stablecoins, according to the White House fact sheet and a St. Louis Fed explainer, which is why many rewards offers are structured as platform programs rather than yield paid by the issuer. We broke down the bank playbook to bring stablecoin activity under bank branding in Banks Are Coming for the Stablecoin Market.

Crypto firms argue that rewards help stablecoins function as programmable cash, and that restrictions mainly protect bank funding franchises and slow innovation.

What changed after the Jan. 15 vote was postponed and what comes next

Since the Jan. 15 postponement, the public story has been calendar moves and private negotiations. A Bloomberg report cited in our coverage suggested committee priorities, including housing affordability work, could push a new window into late February or March, a theme we covered in Senate Shelves US Crypto Bill Again as Housing Takes Priority.

At the same time, regulators and policymakers kept signaling the legislation was close, even as the stablecoin yield fight widened. We flagged that tension in SEC Chair Says Crypto Market Structure Bill Ready to Pass, and in our longer guide to the overlapping lanes of U.S. crypto oversight in US Crypto Regulation and Policy in 2026.

If negotiators land on stablecoin rewards language that both banks and crypto firms can live with, the bill can regain a path to a committee vote. If not, the U.S. market structure timeline can remain stuck in procedural limbo, leaving firms to navigate a patchwork of agency guidance and state by state rules.

What is still unknown is whether Tuesday’s White House meeting produces a concrete compromise that can be translated into legislative text. The next catalyst to watch is whether Senate Banking posts a new markup date, and whether any updated draft clarifies how rewards programs, tokenization provisions, and the SEC versus CFTC split will be handled in practice.