Odaily Planet Daily News: Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America, stated during a quarterly earnings call that interest-bearing stablecoins could lead to a $6 trillion outflow of deposits from the banking system and harm the credit availability for small and medium-sized businesses. Citing data from a U.S. Treasury report, Brian Moynihan noted that the financial structure of stablecoins resembles that of money market mutual funds, with reserves invested in low-risk securities such as short-term Treasury bonds rather than being converted into bank loans. He argued that the proliferation of interest-bearing stablecoins would force banks to rely on more expensive wholesale financing, thereby increasing overall borrowing costs. Currently, a draft cryptocurrency bill under discussion by the U.S. Senate Banking Committee proposes to prohibit idle stablecoins from generating interest.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong posted on the X platform, stating that Coinbase has officially withdrawn its support for the bill due to provisions in the draft legislation that restrict stablecoin rewards, substantially ban tokenized stocks, and limit DeFi. Brian Armstrong accused the proposed amendments of aiming to eliminate competition to banks by abolishing stablecoin rewards. As a result, the Senate Banking Committee has postponed the vote originally scheduled for January 15.