Trump Criticizes Banks on Stalled Crypto Bill

President Donald Trump on Tuesday publicly criticized major U.S. banks for obstructing key cryptocurrency legislation, urging them to reach a compromise with the crypto industry to advance a stalled market structure bill in the Senate.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump stated that the GENIUS Act, a stablecoin regulatory framework he signed into law last July, was being "threatened and undermined by the Banks," adding that such actions were unacceptable. He called for immediate passage of the CLARITY Act, warning that delays could drive the crypto sector to competitors like China. The intervention highlights escalating tensions between traditional financial institutions and digital asset firms over how stablecoins should handle yield payments to users.

The GENIUS Act established the first federal standards for stablecoin issuers, requiring full reserve backing with assets like U.S. Treasury bills and prohibiting direct interest payments to token holders. However, the law did not address whether third-party platforms, such as exchanges Coinbase and Kraken, could distribute yields earned on those reserves to customers. This ambiguity has fueled the current dispute, with...