The snapshot of the day Donald Trump signed the law on stablecoins In the United States on July 18 it shows dozens of men suited and smiling by applauding. Among them, great names of the crypto industry: the Winklevos twins, the CEO of Tether, Paolo Ardoino, Brian Armstrong of Coinbase, Jeremy Allaire de Circle. The euphoria was palpable and also perceived in the market, with the main cryptocurrencies approaching maximums. But a month later that joy is lagging behind. He Genius Actthe first law to regulate the market in the country, represents a step forward and all sectors recognize it. However, the first failures are already detected. The Great Bank has asked legislators to correct the regulations and prohibit any entity with the payment of interests for the possession of stablecoinsan issue that has raised the pulse with crypto companies.
Genius law establishes that “no authorized issuer of stablecoin You can pay the holder of a stable currency any form of interest or performance (either in cash, in tokens or other consideration), only for the possession, use or retention of said asset. “At this point, financial entities detect a legal vacuum: although the issuing is prohibited, other actors such as exchangesintermediaries and stockbrokers that act as distribution channels of these assets can continue to offer rewards to users, avoiding the requirements of the law.
Therefore, in the name of the main financial entities, state banker associations have sent a letter to legislators in order to press so that the prohibition of interest payment to these actors is extended, given the fear that customers prefer to move their bank deposits towards the stable currencies in search of yields and that this causes a leakage of deposits. “Banks drive the economy by transforming loans; when deposits flow to stablecoinsthe creation of credit suffers, ”reads the letter. In this scenario, the loan costs would increase and the credit available for companies and homes would be reduced, they allege.
A US -UU Treasury report estimates that the rise of this market could lead to an exit of 6.6 billion dollars from the deposits to the stable currencies, depending on whether or not they offer yields and to what extent. In addition, he points out that in the face of increasing competition, banks could be forced to increase the interests that pay customers or look for alternative sources to finance. On the other hand, from Goldman Sachs they doubt that this can happen, at least for now. Analysts emphasize that stablecoins They should offer much higher yields than banks and should acquire greater utility and security (banks offer customers the protection of deposit insurance, while stablecoins They are not assured) to attract more customers.
The claim of the banking sector raised the tension and the crypto industry answered in turn with another letter, signed by the Crypto Council for Innovation and the Blockchain Association. In the letter, the sector rejects that there may be a leak of deposits and alleges that most reserves of stablecoins It remains in the traditional financial system: the issuing must maintain reservations that support the assets at all times and in a proportion of one by one. These funds have to be composed of US dollars, deposits or liquid assets such as letters and short -term treasure bonds of the US.
Therefore, the industry has been firm: the modifications required by the bank “seek to create an anti -competitive environment for the stablecoins Payment, protecting banks at the expense of the broader growth of industry, competition and consumer choice, which constitute the basis of the US financial and innovation system, ”they say.
In the letter, the sector affects that stablecoins Payment are neither bank deposits nor funds from the money market or investment products and therefore have to regulate otherwise. Prohibiting that platforms pay interest is out of discussion, allege, and eliminate this possibility while allowing financial entities to offer deposits with profitability would favor large banks “that routinely fail to offer competitive yields and deprive consumers of a significant choice.”
While the debate is lit in the US, the European Union has shielded this risk with Mica. Pablo Urbiola, responsible for BBVA digital regulation, explains that the community regulations prohibits both the issuing and service providers, the payment of interest on stablecoins, to prevent these assets from working as a traditional savings product. The prohibition included in Mica is even broader, since it establishes that “all remuneration or any other time related to time during which a holder maintains such files will be assimilated to interest.”
However, Mica does not regulate the activities of staking of cryptoactive, which consists in blocking the assets of a user to support the safety and operations of a blockchain concrete and achieve profitability. Nor discipline the services of earn that function as a loan contract: the client transfers the ownership of the tokens to the exchange, ceasing to be holder of the assets and becoming a creditor in front of the platform, which returns a performance as a consideration. Sources of the sector point out that this service is likely to also be regulated in a possible Mica 2.
