American bankers are losing patience. The Community Bankers Council under the American Bankers Association (ABA) recently submitted a joint letter to the Senate, bluntly pointing out a problem: the bills that promise to ban stablecoins from paying interest directly are now effectively meaningless.

Where is the core issue? On the surface, the GENIUS Act passed in 2025 indeed restricts stablecoin issuers from paying interest—law explicitly states that direct interest payments to users are not allowed. The banking sector initially thought this would finally protect their livelihoods, allowing the $6.6 trillion deposit pool to remain stable.

But in less than half a year, the loophole was exposed. Major exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken came up with new tricks: they package the yields from holding government bonds into "Rewards" programs, bypassing the "interest" ban. Users who hold stablecoins on exchanges can still earn steady returns—what they call it doesn't matter; the money arriving in their accounts is what counts.

The ABA pointed out in the letter: "Exceptions are swallowing the rules; the ban is effectively dead." For consumers, they don't care whether it's called interest or rewards—if there's a stable return, they'll naturally move their money elsewhere. This not only challenges the original intent of the law but also intensifies the competition between traditional banks and crypto exchanges over deposits.

This battle involves a huge amount of money—$6.6 trillion in U.S. deposits. Once diverted into the stablecoin ecosystem, the implications for traditional banking are self-evident. Financial regulation in Washington is heating up, and subsequent policy adjustments are worth watching.