Dimon: Banks will fight CLARITY Act over stablecoin rules

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warned at the Reagan National Economic Forum on Friday that U.S. banks will oppose the current draft of the CLARITY Act unless stablecoin issuers are held to the same capital, liquidity, reporting and consumer-protection standards as banks.

Dimon criticized a provision in the bill that would allow crypto firms to pay interest-like rewards on stablecoin balances without bank-style consumer protections. He argued any firm taking deposit-like funds should meet the regulatory standards applied to lenders, saying, “If he takes deposits like a bank, should have bank rules … If you want to be a bank, be a bank.”

He said the American Bankers Association, smaller banks and credit unions oppose the current text and vowed the industry will resist the bill. He added, “It will be fought. Don’t bow down to this guy or company.” The CLARITY Act is scheduled for committee markup in Congress.

Dimon raised law-enforcement and compliance concerns, calling for stablecoin issuers to face anti-money laundering, Bank Secrecy Act and know-your-customer obligations comparable to large banks. He warned that without those controls, funds could move offshore and into anonymous wallets, saying transactions can go “to third wallet, fourth wallet, maybe sex trafficker.”

He sought to distance JPMorgan from retail stablecoins, saying he would not get involved and that such products “would blow up on its own,” while noting the bank is developing a JPM Deposit Coin.

The issue has split the industry. Coinbase withdrew support for the Senate version of the CLARITY Act weeks ago, citing changes to the bill’s stablecoin yield provisions. The dispute now places the nation’s largest bank and the largest U.S. crypto exchange on opposite sides as lawmakers continue negotiating the bill’s text.