Banks Push Back
There was a certain inevitability that the traditional banking industry would seek to draw a line in the sand when it came to crypto integration.
As much as major banks have talked up their enthusiasm for digital assets, some offerings appear to be leaving something of a sour taste.
In this case, “some” means stablecoins – cryptocurrencies that maintain stable value by virtue of them being pegged to fiat currencies, commodities and financial tools.
In the crypto heartland of the US, the pushback centres around the draft Clarity Act.
Should the bill pass as it is, crypto firms will be empowered to offer cash rewards to stablecoin holders.
The banking industry fears this could spell disaster as customers leave in droves.
As such, it is seeking to ban stablecoins from paying interest.
In an interview with international news agency, Independent Community Bankers of America CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said community banks made 60% of all the small business loans in America.
She pointed out that if they didn’t have these deposits, there was no clarity on where the funds would come from to fund the loans.
’Depositors losing out’
However, Anatoly Yakovenko, the famously-outspoken co-founder of high-performance blockchain network Solana, has been doing some pushing back of his own.
Speaking recently to Tom Bilyeu, founder of the interview series and media company Impact Theory, Yakovenko laid into traditional banks for profiting from depositors without offering much in return.
He gave a real-world example where Solana Seeker phones had sold 150,000 phones at $500 each.
Some buyers paid with their credit cards, while others used stablecoins for their purchase.
Yakovenko explained that a 2% fee was attached to the credit card payments and that Solana had to wait between two- to three months to receive those funds.
“We didn’t have to pay that fee on the stablecoin part. We got the stablecoin funds immediately,” he said.
To further illustrate his point, he explained banks paid customers some 0.5% interest on deposits but earned close to 5% by storing that same money in treasuries.
Stablecoin companies, meanwhile, can offer 4% yields.
Such a large spread would collapse any truly competitive market, he told Bilyeu, adding that this was precisely the reason that the banks were pushing back.
’Visa’ of crypto
Solana is the third-largest blockchain for stablecoins, which explains why Yakovenko is in their corner.
In 2025, it processed more than $1 trillion in stablecoins – an achievement that naturally reflected positively in Solana to USD price.
This phenomenal showing has sparked speculation that Solana has the potential to become the “Visa” of crypto.
That obviously would cause traditional banks many sleepless nights.
Stuck in limbo
A lot of what happens from here will depend on whether stablecoins pay interest or not.
For the moment, the Clarity Act remains in limbo as pushbacks occur on both sides of the divide.
In truth, the arguments put forward by both the banks and crypto industry are valid.
Whichever it swings, people will get hurt, either through job losses or via loss of yield.
