Today in Crypto: A US bank lobby says fighting stablecoin yields is a top priority, Coinbase created an advisory board to study quantum computing risks to blockchain and Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire pushed back against claims that stablecoin yields could trigger bank runs.
US bank lobby says fighting stablecoin yields a top priority
The American Bankers Association (ABA), a major bank lobby, has made cracking down on stablecoin yield a top priority for 2026, as it looks to sway lawmakers to pass rules banning stablecoin payments.
The ABA said on Tuesday that one of several priorities that were guided by input from various banks and businesses of all sizes and models is to “stop payment stablecoins from becoming deposit substitutes that slash community bank lending by prohibiting paying interest, yield or rewards regardless of the platform.”
The bank lobby has argued that yield-bearing stablecoins will pull deposits away from traditional banks, which will weaken lending and erode banks’ role in the financial system.
The GENIUS Act banned stablecoin issuers from being able to pay users for holding their tokens, but the ABA has petitioned the Senate to add a ban on third parties, such as crypto exchanges, from being able to pay users for holding stablecoins on their platforms.
Coinbase to study quantum computing risks
Coinbase has formed an independent advisory board to assess how advances in quantum computing could affect the cryptography used by major blockchain networks, including Bitcoin and Ethereum.
In a Wednesday blog post, Coinbase introduced the advisory board formed by experts in quantum computing, cryptography, distributed systems and blockchain security from academia and industry, including senior researchers from major universities, the Ethereum ecosystem and Coinbase.
The board will publish public papers assessing the state of quantum computing and its implications for blockchain systems, issue guidance for developers, organizations and users and respond to major advances in quantum technology with independent analysis.
Coinbase said the board will operate independently of the company’s management and is intended to provide industry-facing research rather than serve as an internal review body. The board is expected to publish its first position paper in early 2027, outlining a baseline assessment of quantum-related risks.
The company said the initiative will run alongside internal efforts to update Bitcoin address handling and key-management systems, as well as longer-term research into post-quantum cryptographic standards.
Circle CEO rejects bank-run fears over stablecoin yields
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire dismissed concerns that interest payments on stablecoins pose a threat to banks.
Speaking Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Allaire described concerns that stablecoin yields could cause bank runs as “totally absurd,” citing historical precedents and existing reward-based financial services already in use.
“They help with stickiness, they help with customer traction,” Allaire said, adding that interest itself is not large enough to undermine monetary policy.
Allaire’s comments came amid heated debate over stablecoin yields, including in discussions over the US CLARITY Act, which aims to establish a federal market structure framework for digital assets.
Allaire pointed to government money market funds as a historical parallel, noting they faced similar warnings about draining bank deposits.
Yet it has been “around $11 trillion of dollar money market funds that grew in various different circumstances,” Allaire said, adding that this has not stopped lending.
“Meanwhile, lending is already shifting away from banks toward private credit and capital markets. In the US, much of GDP growth over multiple cycles has been funded through capital-market debt, not bank loans,” he said. “We want to build models for lending that build on top of stablecoins.”
