Banks funding ads against CLARITY Act
- Industry groups and banks have funded advertising campaigns opposing the CLARITY Act in Washington. - CryptoSlate reports more than 3,000 banks have organised opposition funding attack ads against the bill. - The coordinated lobbying adds political risk to the bill's path and could reshape amendment leverage in upcoming markups (cryptoslate.com)
Banks and their trade groups are financing ads in Washington to slow or reshape the Senate’s crypto market-structure bill, the CLARITY Act. (cryptoslate.com) CryptoSlate reported on April 21 that an American Bankers Association ad running in Washington told senators to “close the stablecoin loophole,” part of a broader campaign that included Politico Morning Money placements in March and digital ads aimed at Congress, the White House, and regulators. (cryptoslate.com) The American Bankers Association said more than 3,200 bankers signed a January 14 letter urging the Senate to block what they called a stablecoin “payment of interest loophole.” A separate Community Bankers Council letter, published January 5, pressed senators to make any ban apply to issuer affiliates and partners too. (aba.com, aba.com) The fight centers on stablecoins, a kind of crypto token designed to hold a steady $1 value. Bank groups say if issuers or their partners can offer rewards that look like interest, deposits could move out of banks and into crypto-linked products. (aba.com, cryptoslate.com) The CLARITY Act is the House’s main attempt to divide crypto oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Congress.gov says the bill was introduced on May 29, 2025, as H.R. 3633, and would create a federal framework for “digital commodities” built on blockchains. (congress.gov, congress.gov) The House passed the bill on July 17, 2025, by 294-134, according to the official House clerk roll call. That gave the measure bipartisan momentum before it ran into a slower, more amendment-heavy Senate process. (clerk.house.gov, congress.gov) The Senate Banking Committee had scheduled an executive session on January 15, 2026, to consider H.R. 3633, according to the committee’s hearing page. By April 22, the committee’s public calendar instead showed an April 14 nomination hearing for Kevin Warsh and no posted replacement markup date for CLARITY. (banking.senate.gov, banking.senate.gov, banking.senate.gov) The banking industry has not opposed every part of the bill. In a June 10, 2025 statement for the record, the American Bankers Association said it welcomed several provisions in H.R. 3633 and backed “regulatory clarity,” while also arguing Congress should protect the banking system as it writes crypto rules. (aba.com) Crypto backers are still pushing for a deal. CoinDesk reported on April 13 that White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt said talks were clearing other hurdles around the bill, even as disputes with bankers over stablecoin yield and rewards remained active. (coindesk.com, coindesk.com) For now, the ads are aimed at one narrow pressure point: whether crypto dollars can mimic bank deposits closely enough to offer bank-like returns. The answer to that question is shaping both the Senate timetable and the bill’s final wording. (cryptoslate.com, aba.com)
