JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Friday escalated his war of words with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, warning that the current version of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act) will fail if stablecoin issuers are allowed to pay interest without bank-level oversight.
In an interview on Fox Business with Maria Bartiromo, Dimon said: “No, because it allows them to effectively pay interest on deposits, stablecoins or something like that, without protection that they should have. The banks will not accept it that way. … I will have nothing to do with it and it will eventually blow up.”
The CLARITY Act, which aims to create a federal framework for crypto oversight, has stalled in Congress largely over this issue. Banks argue that firms offering yield-bearing stablecoins are acting like banks without being regulated as such. Crypto firms, led by Coinbase, counter that lawmakers are bowing to Wall Street pressure to crush innovation.
Tensions between Dimon and Armstrong have been simmering for months. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Dimon reportedly told Armstrong, “You are full of shit.” Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan told him, “If you want to be a bank, just be a bank.” Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf refused to engage, and Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser spent less than a minute with him.
The bill must clear both chambers of Congress and be signed by President Donald Trump to become law. Senate committees have advanced competing versions, but final passage remains uncertain as the standoff between banking and crypto deepens.