The U.S. banking industry continues to fight stablecoin legislation that is working its way through Congress.
A lobby group for major American lenders such as JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs (GS), and others, is doing its best to stymie the legislation.
The latest move comes from a bank trade association that is asking the U.S. Department of the Treasury to extend the window in which the public can comment on the implementation of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act.
The bankers’ group is asking that three different GENIUS Act rule proposals get extended comment periods of at least 60 days.
Cryptocurrency advocates who want the GENIUS Act implemented as soon as possible are expressing frustration at the efforts by banks to delay the legislation coming into force.
Currently, the GENIUS Act is on track to be put in place by 2027. Banks want to delay its implementation over concerns the cryptocurrency could compete against their fiat currency business.
The U.S. banks are also embroiled in a heated debate with the crypto industry over whether stablecoins should be able to pay yield similar to interest applied to bank accounts.
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies whose value is pegged to an underlying asset, typically the U.S. dollar or price of gold. They are increasingly used for digital payments.
The stock of JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank, is up 30% over the last 12 months and trading at $313.02 U.S. per share.
