The cryptocurrency business and the largest banks in the USA held a closed meeting at the White House regarding the issue of income accrual on stablecoins. The parties did not reach a compromise, which once again stalled the progress of the bill on regulating the cryptocurrency market in the USA.
At the meeting, the banks advocated for an effective ban on any forms of income or incentives related to the storage and use of stablecoins. The document that got into the media proposes a complete ban on interest accrual on them in any form, with strict control measures and counteracting circumvention of restrictions.
Representatives of crypto companies sharply opposed the banks' proposals, and the meeting ended without an agreed decision. The negotiations involved Ripple, Coinbase, industry associations, and major banks, including Goldman Sachs, Citi, and JPMorgan.
The introduction of transparent regulation is one of the promises made by U.S. President Donald Trump to the cryptocurrency market before the 2024 elections. Initially, he set a deadline for the law's adoption for the summer of 2025; then expectations shifted to September and the end of November. This year, the coordination has also been postponed several times.
The House of Representatives, with Trump's support, promoted a version of the law called Clarity (transparency), and two more versions were presented in the Senate. One of them is advocated by the Senate Banking Committee, which defends the interests of traditional financial institutions. At the end of January, this committee shifted the lawmakers' focus to housing issues, resulting in the consideration of the cryptocurrency market bill being postponed once again.
With Trump's arrival, banks' access to working with cryptocurrencies was expanded. In January 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) canceled a rule that restricted banks' ability to provide clients with digital asset custody services, and in April, the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) canceled a number of other requirements for banks to participate in cryptocurrency operations.
However, the active development of crypto companies, including those issuing stablecoins, is perceived by banks as a threat. They argue that allowing income from cryptocurrencies will lead to a withdrawal of deposits from traditional financial institutions and potentially cause liquidity issues.
The cryptocurrency market is currently experiencing a downturn. Coin prices have dropped by tens of percent from the autumn highs, with institutional investors mostly pulling capital out of crypto ETFs. In total, over $1 billion was withdrawn from Bitcoin ETFs in the last quarter of last year, according to SoSoValue data. Since the beginning of this year, another $1.6 billion.
Goldman Sachs reported on February 10 that in the fourth quarter of 2025, it reduced investments in spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for Bitcoin by almost 40% to $1.06 billion, and in Ethereum-based ETFs by more than 27% to $1 billion. The bank's report also indicates that it opened positions in spot ETFs for XRP and Solana for $152 million and $109 million, respectively. There are no direct investments in cryptocurrencies in Goldman Sachs' portfolio — only ETFs.
