Coinbase Opposes Bank Effort to Block Stablecoin Payment Benefits

These banking groups want rules that would stop stores and service providers from offering cashbacks, loyalty points, or price reductions when customers pay with stablecoins.

The disagreement centers on the GENIUS Act. This law prevents companies that issue stablecoins from offering interest or similar returns to holders of those tokens.

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Banking groups argued that these perks still count as an “indirect interest”. Their position is that if a business benefits from its link to a stablecoin issuer, then the ban should apply to that business as well.

In response, the company’s policy chief, Faryar Shirzad, said in a post on X that regulators should follow the law’s exact wording. He wrote:

There is something unamerican about bank lobbyists pressing regulators to tell stablecoin customers what they can and cannot do with their own money after it is issued.

Coinbase also said that stablecoins could help reduce the more than $180 billion that US businesses paid in card fees in 2024. The company noted that stablecoin payment options could give merchants a less costly alternative.

Coinbase recently addressed comments by Senator Chris Murphy, who raised concerns about the company’s financial support for a White House project and for political groups linked to President Donald Trump. What did Shirzad say? Read the full story.