White House Draft Bars Stablecoin Yield, Sets $500,000 Daily Fines

A White House draft of the Cryptocurrency Market Structure Act prohibits earning yield on idle stablecoin balances and grants the SEC, Treasury and CFTC authority to impose civil penalties of $500,000 per day per violation, BlockBeats reports citing crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett on Feb. 20. The third meeting on the Act—also known as the CLARITY Act—focused on stablecoin yields and drew fewer attendees than the prior week, with representatives from Coinbase, Ripple, a16z and industry groups present but no individual bank delegates; Patrick Witt, Executive Director of the White House Crypto Committee, led the session and presented the draft text. The document acknowledged banks' earlier submissions on yield prohibition and narrowed debate to whether crypto firms may offer rewards tied to specific stablecoin activities, while banking sources push to include a study on payment stablecoin growth and potential impacts on deposits. Sources said discussions could conclude by month-end, with negotiations continuing in coming days.