Patrick Witt

Crypto markets—and the millions of Americans who participate in them—deserve long-overdue clarity. Under President @realDonaldTrump's leadership, we are well on our way. My latest in @CoinDesk with SEC Commissioners @HesterPeirce and Mark Uyeda ⬇️ ow.ly/5z2050YwxI5

Haters will say this is AI.

Thought it was fitting to spend St. Patrick’s Day with @patrickc and the @stripe team. Shame on us for not wearing green though. Grok, pls fix.

A win for housing affordability and a win for community banks in particular.

Lost in the rewards/yield debate is how GENIUS-compliant stablecoins will actually lead to deposit inflows. Global demand for USD is massive. Foreigners exchange local currency for stablecoins from a US-based issuer. That is net new capital entering the American banking system.

🚨 TODAY: Alongside the @CFTC, we entered into an updated Memorandum of Understanding to guide future coordination between our two agencies.   This MOU will support lawful innovation, uphold market integrity, and promote investor and customer protection.   Link in the comments.

Arguably my favorite part of this rewards/yield debate has been when bankers say “if we allow this, then we’ll see massive deposit flight.” Crypto has already been offering rewards/yield on stablecoins FOR YEARS. Where is the deposit flight? Is it in the room with us right now?

The CLARITY Act must remain a pro-innovation piece of legislation. Attempts to hijack the legislative process and turn it into an anti-competition bill are shameful.

@DrJStrategy Good summary.

For the record. Banks’ War on Stablecoin Yields Is a Self‑Defeating Cartel Play The banks’ standoff over the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act) has moved from caution to farce. They are fighting the one bill that would actually constrain the yield‑bearing stablecoin products they claim will drain their deposits. Banks have spent months trying to gut provisions that let ordinary Americans earn modest returns, 2-4%, on digital dollars through transactional incentives and liquidity rewards. Their fear is clear: if people can hold a dollar‑denominated token in a wallet and earn a real return, hundreds of billions could leak out of low‑yield deposits, squeezing margins and weakening their privileged funding model. That concern might be defensible, if their strategy weren’t completely backwards. By blowing up the White House’s narrow compromise and stalling CLARITY past the March 1 deadline, the banks are preserving the very loophole they say terrifies them. Under the existing GENIUS Act, issuers can’t pay interest, but exchanges and wallets can still offer “rewards” on those same stablecoins. That grey zone is exactly what CLARITY is designed to bring inside the perimeter. The administration’s offer was hardly radical: ban passive “park‑and‑earn” yield that directly mimics deposits, but allow activity‑based rewards tied to payments, transfers, and liquidity. That protects core funding while letting digital‑asset markets remain competitive. The banking lobby’s response was to demand a near‑total prohibition, effectively conscripting regulators to preserve banks’ ability to pay near‑zero on deposits while shutting down anyone who offers a market‑like return. At that point this is no longer prudential oversight; it is naked protectionism. It keeps consumers trapped in a rigged game where incumbents hoard cheap capital and innovation is forced into legal grey zones or offshore. President Trump is right to say the banks are holding the “Crypto Agenda” hostage. Passing CLARITY with the compromise intact, ban idle yield, permit genuine usage‑based rewards—is the only coherent way to protect deposits without strangling a market that already exists. If banks kill that outcome, they may get exactly what they fear: stablecoin rewards growing anyway, just further from U.S. law and closer to the edge of the system, while Americans finally see how little value their so‑called guardians of stability are actually willing to deliver. As President Trump put it, “We’re not going to let the banks strangle innovation just to protect a broken model, Americans deserve real choice, real yield, and a fair system that works for them, not just for Wall Street.”

Can someone please explain to me the logic here? No compromise on CLARITY means no restrictions on intermediaries offering stablecoin rewards. If you believe the banks’ argument about deposit flight, this would be catastrophic. Feels like I’m watching an arsonist threaten to burn down their own home.

President @realDonaldTrump is right: the U.S. needs clear rules for digital asset markets. The CLARITY Act helps ensure entrepreneurs build the next gen of financial tech here at home. I look forward to working with @ChairmanSelig to help implement CLARITY in the near future.

Last night, John Daghita – a U.S. government contractor who allegedly stole more than $46 million in cryptocurrency from the U.S Marshals Service – was arrested on the island of Saint Martin by the French Gendarmerie’s premier elite tactical unit in a joint operation with the @FBI.   Thanks to the International Cooperation Team Serious Crime Unit of the French Gendarmerie National in Saint Martin, and the Groupe d’intervention de la Gendarmerie nationale of Guadeloupe for the outstanding coordination.   FBI will continue working 24/7 with our international partners to track down, apprehend, and bring to justice those who attempt to defraud American taxpayers—no matter where they try to hide.

The deceit here is that it is not the paying of yield on a balance per se that necessitates bank-like regulations, but rather the lending out or rehypothecation of the dollars that make up the underlying balance. The GENIUS Act explicitly forbids stablecoin issuers from doing the latter. Stablecoins ≠ Deposits.

An honor to join @perkinscr97 in conversation at the @EconClubNY yesterday to talk about how this administration is delivering on President Trump’s promise to make the U.S. the crypto capital of the world.

🇺🇸 🫡

Great joining @VinceMolinari and @jd_durkin earlier to talk U.S. digital asset leadership and progress on the CLARITY Act. @FintechTvGlobal @TakingStockLive

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.@patrickjwitt is doing an amazing job brokering a compromise between the banks and crypto industry. No one is working harder to get market structure legislation across the finish line. Btw, crypto has made major concessions on stablecoin yield; time for banks to reciprocate.

If there is no deal, the language in Genius controls, which is broader than this. Banks backing themselves into a corner.

Bold strategy. Let’s see if it pays off for them.