Goldman CEO Backs CLARITY Act as Bank Pushback Grows

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said the CLARITY Act would give the digital asset market clearer rules, supporting the bill ahead of a possible Senate vote next week. He spoke to Politico about the legislation.

Solomon said the bill, while imperfect, would help establish a consistent market structure. “I’m very supportive of moving the CLARITY Act forward, so we can get some market structure in place and start to move the innovation process along,” he said.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon took the opposite position. In a May interview on Fox Business, Dimon said the bill would let crypto firms offer bank-like services without the same oversight. “It allows them to effectively pay interest on deposits, stablecoins or something like that, without protection that they should have,” he said. Dimon warned that banks would fight the measure in its current form.

JPMorgan repeated those concerns in a June blog post, arguing that companies offering services similar to bank accounts should follow comparable consumer protection rules.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong claimed banks are lobbying lawmakers to limit stablecoin rewards because those products compete with traditional deposit accounts. Banking executives say firms offering similar financial products should operate under similar rules.

The CLARITY Act would define the roles of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over digital assets. Negotiations on several provisions, including yield-bearing stablecoins, continue.

Solomon also spoke about regulation more broadly earlier this year. “When you burden this system with excessive regulation, you start to extract capital,” he said. He added that regulation must be done thoughtfully.

The Senate could vote on the bill as soon as next week, according to aides familiar with the schedule.