Stablecoins : Coinbase rejects a key compromise of the US Senate

Coinbase puts pressure back on Washington. The platform opposes once again the compromise on stablecoins, blocking the progress of a key text in the US Senate. On the surface, the debate concerns a technical detail: yield. In reality, it is a strategic battle between banks, exchanges, and political power, the outcome of which will reshape the digital dollar economy.

Coinbase reignites the standoff on stablecoins in the US Senate

Coinbase informed several senators Monday that it could not support the latest compromise version of the crypto market structure bill.

The disagreement, reported by several specialized media, still revolves around the same question: who can pay yield on stablecoins, and under what conditions?

The heart of the problem is here. A version of the text would prohibit exchanges from redistributing yield on stablecoins held by their clients. A restriction designed to reassure banks, which fear a gradual migration of savings out of the traditional banking system.

For Coinbase, this lock changes everything. Yield on stablecoins is not just a marketing bonus, it is a pillar of the crypto business model. It allows competition with traditional savings accounts, attracts liquidity, and makes the tokenized dollar a truly useful tool for everyday use.

This is precisely where the debate takes a completely different dimension. Because behind the word “yield,” Washington is actually deciding on a much deeper question. 

Should stablecoins remain an extension of the banking system, or establish themselves as a true alternative? 

If the Senate leans toward banks, it will curb the attractiveness of stablecoins for the general public and slow down, in turn, the mass adoption of the digital dollar.

A strategic crypto law, but still trapped by lobbies

The paradox is striking: everyone in Washington claims they want to finally give a clear framework to crypto. The House of Representatives already passed the CLARITY Act in July 2025, by 294 votes to 134. The goal of the text is simple: better divide roles between the SEC and the CFTC, and end the regulatory uncertainty that has lasted too long.

However, on the ground, the matter is stuck. The stablecoin issue has already caused several stalls, to the point that the White House had to organize several meetings to try to obtain an agreement between banks and the crypto industry. Without success so far.

The bipartisan duo formed by Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks is trying to keep the text alive. Senator Cynthia Lummis, for her part, is unambiguous: without a quick compromise, the midterm electoral calendar could definitively bury the reform. 

“We can’t wait until 2030 to have another chance“, she wrote on X.

This issue goes far beyond Coinbase. What is at stake here is the place of the tokenized dollar in the American finance of tomorrow. Restricting stablecoins today risks hampering an advantage that the United States has spent years building, at the very moment when asset tokenization, on-chain payments, and programmable finance stop being just concepts and enter reality.