Crypto, Banks Take Clarity Act Lobbying Fight to Senators' Home States — SkimNews
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- Stand With Crypto, a Coinbase-backed group claiming 3 million supporters, said members called or emailed Congress nearly 50,000 times in August while organizing local events and pro-Clarity Act op-eds, including a Georgia meeting with staff for Senator Raphael Warnock, who voted against advancing the bill out of committee.
- The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) organized meetings between local bankers and senators during the August recess and ran television ads calling for changes, with President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey urging lawmakers to include a "robust prohibition on stablecoin yield" to protect $4.1 trillion in community bank lending.
- The Senate is scheduled to hold a procedural vote on the Clarity Act on September 15; the bill would establish federal rules for digital assets and divide oversight between the SEC and the CFTC.
- Crypto groups have already spent at least $190 million ahead of the November midterm elections, according to the source.
- The Blockchain Association launched "Clarity for America" in July to help individuals and companies contact senators in support of the bill.
- Both sides targeted senators during the August recess with meetings, local events, op-eds, calls, emails, and advertising, per a Reuters report cited in the article.
- The bill also faces opposition over money-laundering safeguards and ethics restrictions on government officials' crypto interests, beyond the banking dispute.
Why it matters: The ICBA's specific demand—a "robust prohibition on stablecoin yield"—directly threatens the feature crypto platforms use to compete with bank deposits, making it the central fault line that could determine whether the bill clears the Senate. With crypto groups already spending $190 million and logging 50,000 constituent contacts in August, the lobbying intensity will test which side has more grassroots muscle in senators' home districts before the September 15 procedural vote.
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