Coinbase: "Agreed to parts of a compromise on stablecoin interest payments"

Coinbase said it has agreed to parts of a compromise in discussions over whether to allow payments of stablecoin yield (interest).

On the 27th (local time), Faryar Shirzad, Coinbase’s chief policy officer (CPO), wrote on X that “Coinbase and CEO Brian Armstrong have been negotiating for months and have agreed to parts of a compromise.” He also stressed that “Coinbase’s core objective is to protect the GENIUS Act and the interests of ordinary Americans.”

The GENIUS Act is legislation that would govern the framework for issuing and supervising stablecoins in the United States. The market views Coinbase’s mention of the GENIUS Act as reflecting that these discussions are directly tied to whether stablecoin yield payments will be permitted.

However, key sticking points over whether to allow stablecoin interest payments remain. The issue has also been a major point of contention in deliberations over the CLARITY Act, a bill on the structure of the digital-asset (cryptocurrency) market, and is cited as one reason behind legislative delays. According to Decrypt senior reporter Sander Lutz, the White House had hoped to finalize a related agreement by this weekend, but a banking industry source directly involved in the talks said that “it will be difficult to meet the goal.”

The digital-asset industry and banking lobby groups remain divided over whether stablecoins should be able to provide returns to users. Banks worry that yield payments could trigger deposit outflows, while the industry maintains that stablecoins should be able to generate returns even in a regulated environment and pass them on to users.