Sen. Cynthia Lummis urges US banks to embrace stablecoins and digital assets amid crypto bill delays

Senator Cynthia Lummis urged U.S. banks to embrace stablecoins and digital assets, arguing that these technologies offer new financial products and opportunities for both institutions and consumers, such as improved digital asset custody and payment mechanisms with reduced settlement times and costs. This call comes amid delays in passing comprehensive crypto market structure legislation. A major sticking point in negotiations is the issue of allowing crypto platforms to pay yield on users' stablecoin holdings, which banking groups fear will draw deposits away from traditional institutions. Current drafts effectively ban this practice, leading major industry players like Coinbase to withdraw support, thus stalling the bill. Despite these legislative challenges, the U.S. dollar stablecoin market continues to grow, with projections suggesting it could exceed $2 trillion by 2028.

(Source：The Block)