US banking groups have escalated their campaign against the CLARITY Act by calling Senate offices directly, with the North Carolina Bankers Association confirmed on April 18 to be urging member banks to phone Senator Thom Tillis’s office personally to demand changes to the stablecoin yield compromise already agreed with the crypto industry.
Summary
- The North Carolina Bankers Association has been urging member banks to call Senator Tillis’s office directly to oppose the stablecoin yield compromise, confirmed by journalist Eleanor Terrett on April 18.
- Banking trade associations have since broadened the campaign, lobbying other Senate Banking Committee members beyond Tillis and co-negotiator Senator Angela Alsobrooks.
- The escalation has pushed the Banking Committee markup from April into May at minimum, threatening the entire CLARITY Act timeline ahead of the Memorial Day recess.
Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett reported on April 18 that the North Carolina Bankers Association, a state banking trade group, was sending emails to member banks urging them to call Senator Thom Tillis’s office directly and weigh in against the stablecoin yield compromise language in the CLARITY Act. The move came just weeks after Tillis and Senator Angela Alsobrooks had reached a bipartisan agreement in principle on yield that both sides had described as nearly final.
CLARITY Act Stablecoin Yield Fight Enters Aggressive New Phase
As crypto.news reported, the North Carolina Bankers Association’s campaign targeted Tillis specifically because he represents the state where many of the most exposed community banks are headquartered, and because he was the lead Republican negotiator on the stablecoin yield language. The outreach did not stop at Tillis. According to sources cited by Disruption Banking, banking trade associations have since broadened the campaign to target other members of the Senate Banking Committee beyond the two lead negotiators, a move that crypto industry insiders describe as an attempt to reopen a deal the banks already lost in the closed-door negotiating room. White House Crypto Council executive director Patrick Witt responded by writing on X that the banks are “further lobbying out of greed or ignorance” and warning that the CLARITY Act must not be held hostage by yield concerns the administration’s own data has already refuted.
The Numbers Behind the Banks’ Argument and Why the White House Rejected Them
The banking industry’s core claim is that permitting stablecoin yield could trigger up to $6.6 trillion in deposit flight from the traditional banking system, a figure that has shaped the conversation in Senate Banking Committee meetings since January. The White House Council of Economic Advisers directly challenged that figure with a 21-page analysis finding that banning stablecoin yield would increase bank lending by just $2.1 billion, approximately 0.02% of total US loans, while imposing an $800 million net welfare cost on consumers. As crypto.news tracked, the Tillis-Alsobrooks compromise that banks are now trying to unwind drew a firm line: passive yield on stablecoin balances is banned, while activity-based rewards tied to payments, transfers, and platform use remain permitted. The American Bankers Association has argued that even this restricted version gives stablecoins a structural advantage over bank deposits, a position the White House report explicitly rejected.
What the Bank Campaign Means for the CLARITY Act Timeline
The aggressive lobbying has directly pushed the Senate Banking Committee markup from April into May at minimum, compressing an already narrow legislative window before the Memorial Day recess on May 21. As crypto.news documented, the bill faces five sequential hurdles after any markup: a 60-vote Senate floor threshold, reconciliation between the Agriculture and Banking Committee versions, reconciliation with the House-passed text from July 2025, and a presidential signature. Senator Bernie Moreno has warned that if the bill does not reach the Senate floor by May, it may not advance before the 2026 midterm election cycle closes the window entirely. As crypto.news noted, more than 120 organizations sent an April 23 letter to the Banking Committee demanding an immediate markup, warning that delays are pushing investment, jobs, and technological development offshore.
Senator Tillis has floated hosting an in-person crypto and banking meeting to resolve remaining issues, a step he acknowledged would add time but said is necessary because “there are still issues to negotiate.”
