Davos : White House Urges Crypto-Banking Unity

The boundary between traditional banks and crypto could soon disappear. In Davos, David Sacks, White House crypto advisor, stated that these two worlds will soon form just one. Indeed, the CLARITY Act, a decisive bill for the future of the sector in the United States, is at stake. Behind the debates on stablecoin yields, a complete reconfiguration of the financial industry is emerging amid political tensions, power struggles, and strategic ambitions.

The CLARITY Act bogged down in the conflict over stablecoin yields

During a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, David Sacks, White House crypto advisor, pointed out the political deadlock around the CLARITY Act bill, currently under review in the US Senate.

The bill, intended to regulate the structure of the crypto market, is stalled due to strong opposition on a central point: the yield offered by stablecoins. “The debate over the yield has become the main obstacle to adopting the bill,” Sacks said on CNBC.

He called for a compromise between banks, lawmakers, and the crypto industry, emphasizing that “yield is philosophically important to them, but the main thing remains to obtain an overall structural framework”.

Here are the major sticking points raised in the debate :

• Crypto companies defend the right to offer yield through their stablecoins, in the name of financial innovation and competitiveness ;

• Traditional banks fear deposit outflows to higher-yield products, which would threaten their business models based on low-interest accounts ;

• The current bill excludes yields for stablecoins while protecting banks, according to criticisms expressed by some industry players.

This dividing line has caused a notable rift. Coinbase announced its withdrawal from the legislative process. “Too many problems” in the bill, wrote its CEO Brian Armstrong on X, denouncing an unbalanced approach that “removes yields on stablecoins while protecting banks from competition”.

This withdrawal resonates as a political alarm signal, calling into question the outcome of a project considered central to the future of the crypto industry in the United States.

A unified crypto industry as horizon

In the second part of his speech, David Sacks delivered a much more integrative long-term vision. For him, the adoption of the CLARITY Act will not only mark another regulation in the crypto ecosystem, but it will lay the groundwork for a sector merger.

“After the bill’s adoption, banks will fully enter the crypto industry,” he asserted, predicting the end of the distinction between traditional financial institutions and blockchain companies. He went even further, stating: “we will no longer have a banking industry and a crypto universe, but a single crypto industry”.

This vision is based on a pragmatic observation: banks will eventually integrate stablecoin issuance into their business model, notably by adopting yield mechanisms themselves.

Although the GENIUS Act, enacted in July 2025, prohibited stablecoin issuers from paying interest, it remains possible for third parties, like Coinbase, to offer rewards to users. This regulatory ambiguity emphasizes the need for a coherent framework where banks and crypto can operate with shared rules of the game.