Citigroup CEO Backs CLARITY Act Despite Stablecoin Concerns
- Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser said she wants the CLARITY Act to pass, even as she continues pushing for changes to how it treats stablecoin rewards.
- Fraser’s comments follow similar appeals from OKX and Standard Chartered, all landing ahead of the Senate’s rescheduled September 15 procedural vote.
- A Senate compromise would ban rewards paid simply for holding a stablecoin while allowing incentives tied to transactions and payments, a distinction banks say could still pull deposits away from traditional lenders.
Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser said in a Fox Business interview that she wants Congress to pass the CLARITY Act, even as the banking industry keeps pressing lawmakers to change how the bill treats stablecoin rewards. Bitcoin trades near $63,792 as of this writing, according to Coinscipher’s live pricing, as the bill’s path through the Senate remains one of the market’s most closely watched storylines.
Support With Conditions Attached
“We would like to see a good bill go through,” Fraser said, while noting Citigroup has not given up pushing for improvements to specific provisions. The core dispute centers on whether platforms should be allowed to pay yield to stablecoin holders. A Senate compromise negotiated between Democratic Senator Angela Alsobrooks and Republican Senator Thom Tillis would ban rewards paid simply for holding a stablecoin, while still allowing incentives tied to transactions and payments.
Fraser argued that yield-bearing stablecoin products could pull deposits out of traditional banks, which would in turn reduce banks’ ability to extend credit, particularly in communities that have limited access to large financial institutions. That concern has made the stablecoin reward provision the main flashpoint for the banking industry throughout the bill’s negotiation, even among executives who otherwise support the broader legislation.
This isn’t a story about whether banks want crypto regulation. It’s about which version of that regulation they’re willing to accept, and whether Congress can bridge that gap before the bill’s next real test.
A Pattern of Institutional Appeals Ahead of September
Fraser’s comments follow a string of similar appeals from financial firms as the bill’s rescheduled vote approaches. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has set a cloture vote for September 15, after the bill missed its earlier informal deadline before the chamber’s August recess. Standard Chartered has forecast Bitcoin could reach between $143,000 and $150,000 under a supportive regulatory environment, while OKX has separately warned that continued delays risk stalling institutional crypto adoption heading into the fall.
The banking industry itself remains split. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has taken a harder line against the bill, criticizing it directly in a Fox Business interview earlier this year. Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association, has said the stablecoin yield dispute could resurface as a flashpoint again if the bill clears the Senate and moves to a House that has not yet debated the issue in the same depth.
Coinscipher covered the Senate’s cloture filing and the vote’s move to September 15 when that timeline first became clear. Fraser’s remarks add Citigroup to the list of major financial institutions publicly weighing in before that vote, even as the underlying disagreement over stablecoin rewards remains unresolved heading into the fall session.
Sources:
