ABA CEO Urges Bank Executives to Oppose Stablecoin Reward Rules Ahead of Senate Vote Thursday

According to The Block, American Bankers Association CEO Rob Nichols sent a letter to bank executives on Sunday night, urging them to contact their senators ahead of a Senate Banking Committee vote scheduled for Thursday on landmark cryptocurrency legislation. Nichols argued that the bill does not do enough to prevent crypto companies from offering interest-like rewards on stablecoins, warning that without additional changes, the proposal would “unnecessarily incentivize the flight of bank deposits into payment stablecoins.” On May 2, senators Angela Alsobrooks and Thom Tillis released compromise language that blocks “covered parties” from paying any form of interest or yield to U.S. customers solely for holding stablecoins, though exceptions remain for activity-based and transaction-based rewards.