The American Bankers Association calls for tightening stablecoin reward restrictions; the Senate committee will vote on crypto legislation Thursday

According to The Block, Rob Nichols, CEO of the American Bankers Association (ABA), sent a letter to senior bank executives on Sunday evening urging them to contact U.S. Senators and call for further tightening of provisions related to stablecoin rewards ahead of the Senate Banking Committee’s markup vote scheduled for Thursday. Nichols warned that the current draft fails to effectively prevent crypto firms from offering users “interest-like rewards,” which could trigger massive outflows of bank deposits and threaten economic growth and financial stability. The current draft was negotiated by Senators Angela Alsobrooks and Thom Tillis. It prohibits paying users interest or returns for holding stablecoins but permits rewards tied to genuine activity or transactions—a provision supported by Coinbase. Banking industry groups contend that these exceptions contain loopholes that could be circumvented, and on May 8, they jointly wrote to Committee Chairman Tim Scott and Democrat Elizabeth Warren, requesting technical revisions to the language of the provision.