The president of the United States just publicly told the biggest banks in America to back off — and the meeting that triggered it happened behind closed doors first.
In a late-Tuesday Truth Social post, Trump accused banks of trying to undermine two pieces of crypto legislation: the Genius Act, which he signed into law last July to regulate stablecoins, and the Clarity Act, a broader market-structure bill still stalled in the Senate.
"The Banks should not be trying to undercut the Genius Act, or hold the Clarity Act hostage," Trump wrote. "They need to make a good deal with the Crypto Industry because that's what's in the best interest of the American People." He also framed it as a national security issue, warning that inaction would cede ground to China.
Politico reported the post came shortly after Trump met privately with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong — though neither the White House nor Coinbase confirmed what was discussed.
The fight comes down to one question: can crypto platforms pay interest-like yields on stablecoins?
Banks say no — and they have a number. A Treasury study cited by the banking industry estimates that yield-bearing stablecoins could pull as much as $6.6 trillion in deposits out of traditional banks, which rely on those deposits to fund loans. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has argued that any platform paying yield on stored balances is effectively a bank and should be regulated like one.
The White House's crypto adviser Patrick Witt pushed back, arguing the Genius Act already bars stablecoin issuers from lending out reserves — meaning their tokens aren't deposits and don't need bank-level oversight.
While Trump was attacking the banks publicly, the Kansas City Federal Reserve quietly granted crypto exchange Kraken a "limited purpose" Fed master account — access to the payment rails that underpin the U.S. financial system. Banks have fought for years to keep crypto firms off those rails.
In a single day, the White House and the Fed both moved against the banking industry's position. Whether Congress follows is another question — but the direction of travel just got a lot clearer.