Summer Mersinger, chief executive of the Blockchain Association, said reopening key provisions in the Clarity Act weeks before a planned Sept. 15 U.S. Senate vote to advance debate could derail the bill altogether. In a public statement on Aug. 22, she argued that revisiting language negotiated over several months would not improve the legislation and would instead restart talks that may not be finished in time, raising the risk of legislative failure.
Mersinger singled out two proposed changes from the American Bankers Association: replacing the current standard with the phrase 「materially resembles interest」 and removing the word 「solely」. She said those edits amount to substantive policy changes rather than minor drafting revisions. According to her, the first proposal introduces a flexible legal standard that could broaden how regulators interpret the law, while the second would alter the scope of yield restrictions for stablecoins under the GENIUS Act and affect the policy boundaries previously set by Congress.
She also rejected the claim that stablecoins are driving deposit flight from banks, saying the concern is not supported by current data. Mersinger said U.S. bank deposits have risen for three straight quarters since the GENIUS Act passed, increasing by more than $800 billion in total. She called for the Senate to pass the bill and said the Clarity Act would define the regulatory lines between the SEC and CFTC while imposing registration, customer asset segregation, disclosure, and conflict-management rules on platforms serving U.S. users.
Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association, said on Aug. 22 that reopening provisions in the Clarity Act less than four weeks before a Sept. 15 U.S. Senate vote to advance debate would not strengthen the bill and could instead sink it.
According to her statement, revisiting language that has already been negotiated for months would restart a negotiating process that cannot be finished in time, creating a path to legislative failure.
Two ABA proposals are policy changes, not drafting edits
Mersinger said two changes proposed by the American Bankers Association, or ABA, should not be treated as minor wording adjustments. The proposals would replace the current standard with 「materially resembles interest」 and remove the word 「solely」.
She said the phrase 「materially resembles interest」 is a flexible legal standard that could give regulators room to expand their interpretation. She also said deleting 「solely」 would change how yield restrictions for stablecoins under the GENIUS Act apply, affecting the policy boundaries Congress had previously set.
Mersinger disputes deposit flight argument
Mersinger also said the ABA's concern that stablecoins could pull deposits away from banks is not supported by real-world evidence. She cited data showing that since the GENIUS Act was passed, U.S. bank deposits have increased for three consecutive quarters, rising by more than $800 billion in total.
Call to pass the bill without reopening talks
She said what consumers need is a digital asset regulatory framework. Under the Clarity Act, the regulatory lines between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, would be defined. The bill would also require platforms serving U.S. users to register and would impose rules on customer asset segregation, disclosures, and conflict-of-interest management.
Mersinger ended with a direct appeal to the Senate not to reopen negotiations. 「The bill is finished, the work is complete, and the Senate has a chance to move it forward on September 15. It should pass as is,」 she said.
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