Bank of America chief Brian Moynihan said as much as $6trn could flow out of the US banking system into stablecoins—roughly 30–35% of total deposits nationwide.
The projection is based on a US Treasury study. Earlier, the Bank Policy Institute cited the same report, warning of potential capital outflows of $6.6trn.
Moynihan likened “stablecoins” to money-market funds: their reserves are typically parked in short-term Treasuries rather than used to make loans. The upshot, he argued, is liquidity leaving the traditional sector, depriving banks of resources to lend to businesses and households.
“If you pull deposits out, they either won’t be able to make loans, or they’ll have to raise wholesale funding, and that funding will have its own cost,” said the Bank of America chief.
Legislative debate
US lawmakers are trying to regulate the issue. The latest Clarity Act draft introduced by Senator Tim Scott bars digital-asset providers from paying interest or any income “simply for the fact of holding” a stablecoin.
However, the bill permits rewards for active participation in the ecosystem, with exceptions for income from:
- providing liquidity;
- participating in protocol governance;
- staking;
- other actions that keep the network functioning.
The Senate Banking Committee had planned to take up the bill on January 15, but the session was postponed. Scott cited the need for further discussion.
I’ve spoken with leaders across the crypto industry, the financial sector, and my Democratic and Republican colleagues, and everyone remains at the table working in good faith.
As we take a brief pause before moving to a markup, this market structure bill reflects months of…
— Senator Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) January 15, 2026
“I’ve spoken with leaders across the crypto industry, the financial sector, and my Democratic and Republican colleagues; everyone remains at the table working in good faith,” he wrote.
The senator did not name a new date.
Earlier, the Senate Agriculture Committee pushed its markup to January 27.
“We have made progress in discussions and are engaged in a constructive dialogue, but we need additional time to resolve the remaining contentious issues and to secure the broad support necessary for such a law,” explained Republican John Boozman.
The House of Representatives passed its version in July. The process now requires sign-off from two Senate committees: Banking (overseeing the SEC) and Agriculture (responsible for the CFTC). Only then will the bill go to a floor vote.
Crypto industry pushback
The latest draft has sparked arguments across the crypto community, with many opposing limits on paying returns on stablecoins.
Coinbase was the first to withdraw support. Its CEO Brian Armstrong said the updated proposal is “significantly worse than the status quo.”
After reviewing the Senate Banking draft text over the last 48hrs, Coinbase unfortunately can’t support the bill as written.
There are too many issues, including:
— A defacto ban on tokenized equities
— DeFi prohibitions, giving the government unlimited access to your financial…— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) January 14, 2026
Among the “problematic” provisions, he highlighted:
- a de facto ban on tokenised equities;
- severe curbs on the DeFi sector that would paralyse its development;
- violations of users’ rights and threats to privacy;
- weakening the CFTC, whose regulatory model is best suited to innovative assets;
- eliminating the ability to earn passive income from stablecoins.
“We would rather have no law at all than this one. Hopefully we can all arrive at a better solution,” Armstrong wrote.
He was backed by Bitwise head of research Ryan Rasmussen.
“If the banking lobby manages to get a ban on stablecoin yields, it will be direct proof that the Senate works for the interests of banks, not the people. […] Any support for this provision by elected representatives is indefensible,” added Bankless podcast host Ryan Sean Adams.
Crypto lawyer Jake Chervinsky urged against premature conclusions. He is confident the industry will have time to propose amendments while the bill is being refined.
1/ 🚨 Market structure goes to markup tomorrow!
This is a historic moment for crypto in Washington. Senate Banking has done extraordinary work putting together a strong product.
There’s a lot to like in the new draft, but also some key issues left to address. Let’s discuss 🧵
— Jake Chervinsky (@jchervinsky) January 14, 2026
“The text will change a lot before it becomes law. Let’s hope for the best,” he wrote.
Some experts endorsed the current Clarity Act draft. a16z Crypto managing partner Chris Dixon stressed that the community “needs clear rules of the road.”
The investor called the document the result of five years of joint work by business and government, including both parties in Congress and Donald Trump’s team. In Dixon’s view, the initiative would safeguard decentralisation and offer fair conditions for entrepreneurs.
“At its core, the bill does exactly these things. It isn’t perfect; changes are needed. But now is the time to advance Clarity—especially if we want the United States to remain the best place to build the future of cryptocurrencies,” Dixon concluded.
Coin Center executive director Peter Van Valkenburgh also said he is “optimistic about the current market-structure bill draft.”
In January, JPMorgan Chase CFO Jeremy Barnum warned about the risks of yield-bearing stablecoins.