Bankers Threaten to Kill Stablecoin Yields-What’s Next?

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The North Carolina Bankers Association has issued what might best be described as a group pep‑talk: you, a local teller, call Senator Thom Tillis’s office and deliver a monologue about stablecoins. Because nothing says “help humanity” like a pre‑written pitch from a trade group.

In a draft of the internal memo, the association’s leadership sent out a “script” for anyone with a pulse and a phone line. The memo admitted that the current CLARITY Act language was insufficient to stop depositors from fleeing to stablecoins-a funny nod to the fact that bankers still haven’t mastered cryptocurrencies, yet.

Banking Lobby Escalates Pressure on Stablecoin Yield

Rumors say a teller in a small Wilmington bank decided to blow the whistle and shared the memo. Only the next day did leadership confirm they were “helping out” by circulating it like a secret recipe for financial sabotage.

🚨NEW: As the clock ticks down to a markup of the CLARITY Act in the Senate Banking Committee, the North Carolina Bankers Association (a state trade group) has been urging member banks to call into @SenThomTillis’s office to weigh in on the stablecoin yield debate.

Per an email…

– Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) April 18, 2026

The script pushes for an “airtight prohibition” on yield tied to stablecoins. It even carves out nonsense allowances for loyalty programs and “nominal activity,” which, frankly, sounds like a conspiracy toward the next great crypto‑fad.

The memo told employees they didn’t need to defend their positions. Their job was simply to call, drop a rehearsed line, and hang up-no questions asked, no explanations given, just a one‑time knock‑on‑the‑door courtesy call.

CLARITY Act Markup Approaches With Unresolved Yield Dispute

The lobbying machine has found its rhythm as the Senate Banking Committee gears up to tidy up the CLARITY Act. In March, Senators Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks struck a deal: passive yield is banned; activity‑based rewards survive, because what better way to keep people from looking at the gold (or rather, stablecoin) than a tiny pay‑check for each transaction.

Bankers argue those carve‑outs still let them play the yield game, but a White House Council of Economic Advisers report politely counters that argument. The difference? Banks tell us 0.02% of total loans could be displaced by removing stablecoin yield. The math is near‑zero; the drama is infinite.

The CLARITY Act rode to a House victory 294-134 in July 2025. A Senate Banking Committee markup is on the calendar for late April, but, as with all things bureaucratic, the schedule is very much a suggestion.

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2026-04-19 14:40