NC Bankers Push For Stablecoin Yield Ban on the CLARITY Act

The North Carolina Bankers Association urged member banks to call Sen. Thom Tillis’s office this week. The trade group wants a total ban on stablecoin yield payments in the CLARITY Act.

Leadership circulated an internal email with a pre-written script for bank employees. It described the current compromise language as insufficient to prevent deposit flight into stablecoins.

Banking Lobby Escalates Pressure on Stablecoin Yield

An employee at a small Wilmington-based bank reportedly shared the email, with leadership distributing it on behalf of NCBankers.

The script demands what it calls “an airtight prohibition” on yield tied to holding payment stablecoins. It also targets carve-outs for loyalty programs and nominal activity.

Employees were told they did not need to answer questions or defend their positions. The email stated they should simply deliver the message and end the call.

CLARITY Act Markup Approaches With Unresolved Yield Dispute

The lobbying effort comes as the Senate Banking Committee prepares a markup of the CLARITY Act.

Senators Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks brokered a compromise in March that bans passive yield but permits activity-based rewards tied to transactions.

Banks argue that those carve-outs still enable a de facto yield on stablecoin holdings. However, a White House Council of Economic Advisers report challenged that argument.

Full yield allowance would displace only $2.1 billion in lending, just 0.02% of total loans.

The CLARITY Act passed the House 294-134 in July 2025. A Senate Banking Committee markup was targeted for late April, though the schedule remains fluid.