Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong says big banks are “undermining” President Trump’s crypto agenda by pushing CLARITY Act language that would ban 4–5% stablecoin yields now fueling Coinbase’s $1.35b revenue line.
Summary
- Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong says big banks are “undermining” President Trump’s crypto agenda by trying to ban yield on stablecoins.
- The fight centers on whether platforms like Coinbase can share 4–5% Treasury returns on stablecoins with users under the GENIUS and CLARITY Acts.
- Banks warn trillions in deposits could migrate to crypto if yields are allowed, while Coinbase defends a $1.35 billion stablecoin revenue stream.
In a Fox Business interview, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong accused major U.S. banks of “trying to undermine the president’s crypto agenda” by pushing to strip Americans of the ability to earn yield on stablecoins. He described the latest Senate draft as a “giveaway to the banks” that would “ban their competition” by shutting down yield on digital dollars. Armstrong argued banks are “taking money out of the pockets of hardworking, average Americans and putting it into the coffers of big banks hitting record profits.”
Under the 2025 GENIUS Act, stablecoin issuers must fully back tokens with cash or short-term Treasuries and are barred from paying interest directly, but exchanges like Coinbase have been allowed to pass on roughly 4–5% Treasury returns to customers via rewards programs. A new CLARITY Act compromise circulating in Washington would prohibit stablecoin yield “directly, indirectly, and through anything economically or functionally equivalent to bank interest,” while allowing only activity-based rewards. Coinbase has told senators it “cannot support” the current text.
Trump’s Support and the Banking Lobby’s Fears
President Donald Trump has publicly sided with crypto firms, accusing banks on Truth Social of “threatening and undermining” the GENIUS Act and “holding the CLARITY Act hostage” over stablecoin yield. “Americans should earn money on their money,” Trump wrote, urging Congress to move the market-structure bill “ASAP.” According to reporting from Bloomberg, banks have cited Treasury studies suggesting they could lose up to hundreds of billions in deposits if stablecoin yields are permitted, warning this could pressure smaller institutions and weaken loan funding.
The numbers at stake explain the intensity. Coinbase generated about $1.35 billion in stablecoin revenue in 2025, roughly 19% of its total, driven largely by interest on USDC reserves backed by U.S. Treasuries. Total stablecoin volume reached an estimated $33 trillion last year, with USDC accounting for around $18.3 trillion of that flow. Analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence have projected that if USDC payment adoption accelerates, Coinbase’s stablecoin revenue could grow two- to sevenfold from its 2025 base.
For now, the yield fight has become the fulcrum of U.S. crypto policy: banks lobbying to close what they call a “loophole,” crypto platforms lobbying to preserve a core revenue line and a 4–5% return for users. With Trump publicly pressuring banks and Armstrong warning of “regulatory capture,” the eventual shape of the GENIUS–CLARITY framework will determine whether stablecoins remain a high-yield alternative to bank deposits or revert to being low-yield digital cash.
