Senate committee delays markup of digital assets bill amid ICBA campaign

Senate committee delays markup of digital assets bill amid ICBA campaign

The Senate Banking Committee announced a delay of its markup of digital assets market structure legislation as ICBA continued its call for lawmakers to ensure the bill does not harm community bank lending.

Markup Delay: The committee announced the delay of the markup—which was previously scheduled to kick off this morning—amid persistent ICBA calls for market structure legislation to explicitly bar crypto exchanges, affiliates, and other intermediaries from paying interest, yield, or rewards on payment stablecoin holdings. A new date has not been set, and the committee is expected to continue negotiations on the legislation.

Ongoing ICBA Campaign: While conducting a grassroots, media, and advertising campaign in the nation’s capital and key states, ICBA on Wednesday published a new op-ed on the yield issue. In CoinDesk, ICBA Digital Assets Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Paintner said:

• A slew of research shows the risks to small businesses and job creation posed by the payment of interest, yield, or rewards on payment stablecoin holdings.

• While the GENIUS Act took the first step in addressing these risks by prohibiting payment stablecoin issuers from offering yield and interest, Congress must explicitly extend this important prohibition to crypto exchanges, affiliates, and other intermediaries.

Real-World Data: In the op-ed—which circulated widely in Washington amid markup negotiations—Paintner points to a recently released ICBA data analysis that shows allowing crypto intermediaries to pay interest or yield on payment stablecoin holdings could reduce community bank lending by $850 billion due to a $1.3 trillion reduction in the industry’s deposits.

Campaign Continues: With the Senate Banking Committee continuing negotiations over the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, ICBA continues calling on community bankers to use its Be Heard grassroots action center to urge lawmakers to ensure digital assets legislation bars all market participants from offering yield, interest, or rewards on payment stablecoins.

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