Blockchain Association sends letter to Congress defending GENIUS Act

Regulatory Landscape & Advocacy - The Blockchain Association defends the Genius Act, asserting it as settled law and crucial for maintaining US leadership in innovation [1][2] - The Association actively pushes back against large banks' attempts to weaken the Genius Act, which provides legal clarity for stablecoin issuers [2][3] - The Association is running a campaign with a similar narrative to Coinbase, advocating for consumer rewards on stablecoins and countering bank lobbying efforts [9][10] - The Association emphasizes the importance of bipartisan efforts in Congress to achieve comprehensive crypto market structure legislation [15] - The Association highlights the need for regulatory harmonization between the SEC and CFTC to foster innovation and provide market certainty [17][19] Stablecoin Rewards & Banking Concerns - The core concern revolves around banks' apprehension regarding stablecoin rewards potentially leading to a flight of deposits from community banks [4] - The Association argues there's no concrete evidence of stablecoin investments causing a decrease in bank deposits [5] - The Association views the debate over stablecoin rewards as a competitive issue for banks, suggesting they should compete on interest rates [6][7] - Stablecoin holdings offer around 4% in rewards, significantly higher than the less than 1% typically offered by banks on savings accounts [6][7] Clarity Act & Regulatory Clarity - The industry emphasizes that revisiting the Genius Act would remove crucial legal clarity, hindering innovation and potentially pushing it overseas [12][13] - The industry hopes the Clarity Act will provide clear guidelines on when digital assets are considered securities under SEC jurisdiction versus commodities under CFTC jurisdiction [22][23] - The industry believes the CFTC is well-equipped to oversee digital assets, citing their experience with Bitcoin futures and monitoring trading activities [25][26]