US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Congress that traditional banks and crypto firms could eventually offer similar products and services.
Appearing before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, Bessent was asked by Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis whether there might be a time when conventional banks and crypto firms provide the same types of products. “I think that can happen over time,” he replied, adding that the Treasury has been engaging with small and community banks about how they might participate in the digital asset space.
Bessent said progress requires clear rules and urged support for the market structure legislation known as the CLARITY Act currently before Congress. “We have to get this CLARITY Act across the finish line, and any market participants who don’t want it should move to El Salvador,” he said. He emphasized the need to combine appropriate government oversight with the freedoms that crypto can offer: “We’ve got to bring safe, safe, sound, and smart practices and the oversight of the US government, but also allow for the freedom that is crypto.”
The CLARITY Act has stalled in the Senate Banking Committee as bipartisan negotiations over what to include remain deadlocked. Lawmakers have pushed to add restrictions on stablecoin yields—measures some crypto firms, including Coinbase, resisted. Bessent warned that deposit volatility is “very undesirable,” because stable deposits enable banks to lend into their communities. “We will continue to work to make sure that there is no deposit volatility associated with this,” he said.
This week several crypto companies reportedly offered concessions to break the gridlock, proposing a larger role for community banks in the stablecoin ecosystem as a way to advance the bill through the Senate.
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