TechFlow news, February 6: According to Decrypt, U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) called on traditional banks to embrace stablecoins as a business opportunity rather than resist them. Lummis stated that stablecoins could offer banks “an entirely new financial product” while making financial services “faster and cheaper.”
Currently, negotiations over the Crypto Market Structure Act have reached an impasse, with banks and credit unions warning that stablecoin rewards could lead to deposit outflows from traditional accounts—particularly impacting community banks that rely on stable deposits to fund local lending.
Digital asset analyst Nic Puckrin noted that the bill’s ongoing delay will “constrain digital asset prices” and highlighted stablecoins’ “strategic importance” amid a weakening U.S. dollar. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent emphasized during his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee that the CLARITY Act must pass. Although the initial legislative window has passed, Senate Majority Leader John Thune has pledged to schedule time for the bill later this spring.
