Crypto, Banks Take Clarity Act Lobbying Fight to Senators' Home States

With the Senate set to hold a procedural vote on the Clarity Act on September 15, both crypto industry groups and community banking organizations spent the August recess pressing senators at home. Advocacy groups on each side organized meetings with lawmakers, ran local advertising, placed op-eds, and encouraged constituents to contact their senators.

Crypto-aligned organizations drove a concentrated outreach push. Stand With Crypto, a Coinbase-backed group that says it represents 3 million supporters, reported nearly 50,000 calls or emails to members of Congress in August while arranging events and publishing pro-bill opinion pieces in local outlets. The Blockchain Association also launched a campaign called Clarity for America in July to make it easier for individuals and companies to reach senators in favor of the legislation. Industry spending on political activity has been substantial: crypto groups have already spent at least $190 million ahead of the November midterms.

Community bankers countered with their own state-level campaign, organized by the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA). The ICBA set up meetings between local bankers and senators and ran television ads urging changes to the bill. The trade group said its polling shows small businesses value community banks and urged lawmakers to add a strict ban on stablecoin yield payments to prevent potential harm to local lending; ICBA noted community banks support roughly $4.1 trillion in lending activity nationwide.

A core disagreement is over stablecoin rewards. Banking groups warn that allowing platforms to pay yields on stablecoins could pull deposits away from traditional banks and reduce funds available for lending. Crypto proponents respond that keeping yield options and creating clearer federal rules are necessary for the industry to operate competitively in the U.S. The Clarity Act also faces objections on anti–money-laundering provisions and on proposed ethics restrictions related to government officials' crypto holdings. Those policy disputes, and the broader outreach campaigns, will help shape how senators vote when the procedural motion comes before the chamber in mid-September.