American Independent Community Bankers Association: Calls for a complete ban on stablecoin rewards, stating it could lead to a $1.3 trillion outflow of deposits

The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), representing about 5,000 community banks in the United States, is opposing the Clarity for Digital Assets Act (CLARITY Act). ICBA Chair and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey stated that the "loopholes" related to stablecoin rewards must be completely closed, with no compromise solutions. The ICBA claims that stablecoins could lead to $1.3 trillion in deposits leaving the banking system and reduce local lending by $850 billion.

The association has prompted Republican Senators Josh Hawley and Jerry Moran to oppose the current version of the bill. Rebeca Romero Rainey indicated that there are no signs that cryptocurrencies will replace these deposits and reinvest them into local communities. She also criticized the report titled "Impact of the Stablecoin Yield Ban on Bank Lending" released by the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) for downplaying banks' concerns about deposit outflows. The Senate plans to vote on the CLARITY Act on September 15; if it cannot secure support from at least 60 senators, the bill will not proceed to further consideration and may halt progress for the foreseeable future.