Jan 28 (Reuters) – The White House will meet with leaders from the banking and cryptocurrency industries on Monday to discuss the path forward for landmark cryptocurrency legislation, which is stalled due to a clash between the two powerful industries, three industry sources said.
The summit hosted by the White House crypto council will include leaders from several trade groups. It will focus on how the bill addresses interest and other rewards that crypto companies can offer customers in dollar-pegged tokens, called stablecoins, the sources said.
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Reuters was first to report the meeting.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The sources declined to be identified as they discussed private policy discussions.
“We look forward to continuing to work with policymakers so that Congress can advance lasting market structure legislation and ensure that the United States remains the crypto capital of the world,” she said.
Cody Carbone, CEO of The Digital Chamber, another major crypto trade group, credited the White House with “drawing all parties to the negotiating table.”
The Senate has been working for months on the bill, dubbed the Clarity Act, which aims to create federal rules for digital assets, the culmination of years of lobbying in the crypto industry. Crypto companies have long argued that existing rules are inadequate for digital assets and that the legislation is essential for businesses to continue operating with legal certainty in the United States.
The House of Representatives passed its version of the bill in July.
The Senate Banking Committee was scheduled to debate and vote on the bill earlier this month, but the meeting was postponed at the last minute, in part due to concerns from lawmakers and both sectors over the interest issue.
Crypto companies say offering rewards such as interest is crucial to recruiting new customers and that banning them would be anti-competitive. Banks say increased competition could lead to an exodus of deposits for insured lenders – the main source of funding for most banks – potentially threatening financial stability.
That bill banned stablecoin issuers from paying interest on cryptocurrencies, but banks say it left open a loophole that would allow third parties — such as crypto exchanges — to pay for the tokens’ yield, creating new competition for deposits.
Reporting by Hannah Lang in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama
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