US Treasury: Banks and Crypto Could Offer Similar Products Once CLARITY Rules Arrive
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told the Senate Banking Committee that, if Congress enacts clear digital-asset rules, traditional banks and crypto firms could gradually offer similar products and services. The Treasury has been engaging small and community banks about participating in the sector but stressed that progress depends on a firm legal framework. Bessent urged passage of the market-structure CLARITY Act as a way to balance oversight and innovation and flagged stablecoin yield rules as a major sticking point in negotiations. He warned that deposit volatility tied to crypto — deposit flight — could undermine banks’ stable funding and their ability to lend, calling such volatility “very undesirable.” The remarks follow White House meetings with crypto and banking groups that discussed stablecoin yield practices and proposals to give community banks a larger role in stablecoin infrastructure to help advance the bill. Traders should watch regulatory milestones on the CLARITY Act and any policy on stablecoin yields, as clearer rules could reduce regulatory risk but tighter limits on stablecoin yields or new bank safeguards could affect stablecoin liquidity and yields.
Neutral
The news is neutral for crypto prices overall. Positive elements: progress toward clear regulation (the CLARITY Act) reduces legal uncertainty, which can be supportive for markets and institutional participation. Engagement of community banks in stablecoin infrastructure could broaden on-ramps and liquidity over time. Negative elements: negotiations over strict limits on stablecoin yields and regulatory safeguards against deposit volatility could reduce incentives or yields for stablecoin-backed products and temporarily constrain liquidity. In the short term, uncertainty around the bill’s provisions and stablecoin yield caps may cause volatility in stablecoin-adjacent tokens or yield-bearing products. In the medium to long term, clearer rules that permit controlled growth—while limiting risky yield practices—are likely to be constructive for market stability but could compress yields and shift flows. Therefore, the expected price impact is balanced: regulatory clarity reduces tail risk (bullish structural), while potential yield limits and bank safeguards could be bearish for yield-sensitive instruments; net effect is neutral.