Coinbase CEO Demands Stablecoin Laws Be Scripted in Indelible Ink

Oh, the drama! Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong, a veritable guru of the digital realm, is beseeching Congress to pen a new chapter in the annals of stablecoin legislation. 🎉

In a spirited post on X, our dear Brian posits that crypto companies should be accorded the same dignified treatment as banks, thus allowing them to shower “onchain interest” upon the masses. How terribly democratic and delightfully profitable!

Two pieces of federal stablecoin legislation are currently vying for the limelight: the STABLE Act and the GENIUS Act. Both are posturing as the saviors of the digital economy, but will they actually do the trick?

Mr. Armstrong suggests that the United States has an opportunity to level the playing field, ensuring these laws “pave a way for all regulated stablecoins to deliver interest directly to consumers, the same way a savings or checking account can.” Quite a PR coup, if you ask me! 🌟

Armstrong argues that while stablecoins have already hit their stride by digitizing the dollar, the addition of onchain interest could be a game-changer. “The average person, and the US economy, could reap the full benefits,” he enthuses.

With onchain interest, US consumers might earn a yield of around 4% on their holdings, a figure that makes the current paltry 0.41% interest on savings accounts look rather… quaint. 🤔

Moreover, he contends that onchain interest could bolster the US economy by encouraging the global use of US dollar stablecoins, thus “pulling dollars back to U.S. treasuries and extending dollar dominance.” A veritable economic elixir!

“More yield in consumers’ hands means more spending, saving, investing—fueling economic growth in all local economies where stablecoins are held.” Quite the utopian vision, wouldn’t you say? 🌆

However, both the STABLE and GENIUS Acts currently frown upon the idea of interest-generating stablecoins. The STABLE Act, in particular, has a clause that prohibits “payment stablecoin” issuers from paying yield to holders. How dreadfully uncharitable!

Similarly, the GENIUS Act, which recently passed the Senate Banking Committee by a vote of 18-6, has been amended to exclude interest-bearing instruments from its definition of a “payment stablecoin.” Oh, the drama!

Representative Bryan Steil, always the optimist, told Eleanor Terrett of Crypto in America that the two bills are on track to “mirror up” after a few more rounds of edits. “At the end of the day, I think there’s recognition that we want to work with our Senate colleagues to get this across the line,” he said. 🙌

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2025-04-01 05:36