Published May 14, 2026 · The Verge
The Crypto Clarity Act returns to the Senate Banking Committee this week as the American Bankers Association mobilizes against it, warning that stablecoin reward loopholes could trigger a mass deposit flight from traditional banks.
The Crypto Clarity Act, a crypto market structure bill, is returning to the Senate Banking Committee for markup this Thursday. Just as the crypto industry was preparing to celebrate, the American Bankers Association launched an urgent campaign to oppose it. ABA president Rob Nichols sent a Sunday email to bank CEOs across the country — from Wall Street to community banks — urging them to contact their senators immediately.
The banks' core concern is that the bill doesn't sufficiently prevent crypto companies from offering interest-like rewards on payment stablecoins. The ABA argues this "loophole" could incentivize consumers to move their cash from traditional bank accounts into stablecoins, triggering a deposit flight that would undermine the banking industry. The article frames this as a rare moment of visible Wall Street panic over pending legislation, noting the bill poses a real challenge to the traditional model of banks holding customer deposits.
Matter Labs' Vassilis Tziokas argues in CoinDesk that no market structure bill can make bank deposit networks interoperable — that comes from architecture and clearing, not legislation.
Risk and payments leaders at three Cari Network partner banks describe how they're rebuilding liquidity and controls for always-on settlement — the operational work behind bank-governed tokenized deposits.
