US President Donald Trump said bankers were trying to undermine the GENIUS Act – the iconic stablecoin law he signed into law last year – in a Truth Social article on Tuesday, and he called for congressional legislation on crypto market structure to pass without interference.
“The United States needs to get the market structure in place as soon as possible. Americans should make more money with their money,” he said in his message. “Banks are making record profits, and we are not going to allow them to undermine our powerful crypto program that will eventually end up in China and other countries if we ignore the Clarity Act.”
He warned banks against holding the Clarity Act hostage, saying the bill was necessary to keep the crypto industry in the United States.
“They need to make a good deal with the crypto industry because that’s what’s in the best interest of the American people,” he said.
The Market Structure bill has been in limbo since the Senate Banking Committee indefinitely postponed a markup hearing, in which lawmakers were scheduled to debate and vote on amendments to the bill, in January. A number of issues still prevent the bill from passing, but the most public fight has been between the banking and crypto industries over whether third parties can offer customers a return on stablecoin deposits.
Banks fear that allowing Coinbase and other exchanges to offer a stable coin yield to their customers could lead to a flight of deposits from the banking sector. Crypto companies argue that people should be allowed to earn a return on their holdings, a practice they say was allowed under the GENIUS Act.
The White House facilitated meetings between banking and crypto industry representatives to negotiate the language of the bill. People close to the negotiations say a draft text is circulating among lawmakers.
While the White House had set a tentative deadline of the end of February to reach an agreement, no agreement has yet been reached. The Senate still has time to work on the bill, but the timeline is starting to shorten. Lawmakers have vacations over the summer and the 2026 election cycle begins to kick into full gear, costing them time they could otherwise spend on the bill.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a federal banking regulator, said last week in a proposed rule that the terms of contracts between stablecoin issuers and their third-party associates must be clear about what exactly those third parties are offering, but the agency did not explicitly prohibit yield payments.
World Liberty Financial, a company associated with Trump and his family, offers its own stablecoin, USD1, and recently sought to obtain a trust charter under the OCC for an affiliated company.
The Clarity Act message was a sharp plunge into financial policy after Trump spent the past few days overseeing U.S. military strikes against Iran, in what the U.S. government described as a “special combat operation.” The emerging hostilities have disrupted air travel across the Middle East, as well as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Read more: Bitcoin is stuck in a rut but JPMorgan says new legislation could be the ultimate spark
UPDATE (March 3, 2026, 8:25 p.m. UTC): Adds additional details.
