The White House convened its second closed-door meeting with cryptocurrency and banking industry representatives to address disputes over stablecoin yields in the stalled CLARITY Act. The discussions focused on resolving tensions that have halted the bill's progress in the Senate. Banking groups emphasized the need for innovation without risking bank deposits.
The White House held its second closed-door meeting on Tuesday, following an initial session on February 2, 2026, involving senior policy executives from cryptocurrency organizations such as Coinbase, the Blockchain Association, the Digital Chamber, and the Crypto Council, as well as banking groups including the American Bankers Association (ABA) and the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA). Crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett described the gathering as a collaborative working session, "not ambushing or ganging up on either side," and anticipated it as the first of several discussions aimed at advancing President Trump’s agenda on cryptocurrency regulation.
At the center of the talks is the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 (CLARITY Act), a bipartisan bill that passed the House in 2025 but remains stalled in the Senate Banking Committee. The legislation seeks to place most digital commodities under Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) oversight, while the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) retains authority over areas like stablecoin yields. Key disputes revolve around stablecoin yields and rewards, which banking interests argue could shift billions in liquidity from banks to cryptocurrency platforms, potentially undermining safety and soundness.
Tensions escalated after Scott Bessent criticized Coinbase as a “recalcitrant actor” for opposing the bill, claiming such resistance slows progress on regulatory clarity. White House spokesman Kush Desai stated, "The White House continues to engage in productive conversations to advance President Trump’s agenda of cementing American dominance in the cutting-edge technologies of the future."
Following the meeting, the American Bankers Association, Bank Policy Institute, and Independent Community Bankers of America issued a joint statement: “We thank the White House for hosting today’s meeting and continue to share the administration’s strong interest in finding agreement on crypto market structure legislation. As we noted during the meeting, that framework can and must embrace financial innovation without undermining safety and soundness, and without putting the bank deposits that fuel local lending and drive economic activity at risk. We look forward to ongoing discussions to move market structure legislation forward.”
Complementing these efforts, the SEC and CFTC relaunched their joint "Project Crypto" initiative in late January to clarify asset classifications, reduce jurisdictional overlap, and support innovations like tokenized assets and stablecoins under a more predictable framework.
