https://www.startribune.com/cryptocurrency-clarity-act-community-bank-opposition-tom-emmer/601868360
Because of Strib's paywall, only a brief excerpt, and then looking to other sources. Beginning paragraphs in Strib's coverage -
A push by the cryptocurrency industry to pass a monumental piece of federal legislation has run into a small, but loud, foe: an army of rural community banks.
Randy Dorn, who leads My Kind of Bank in the small northwest Minnesota town of Battle Lake, is among them and said the legislation as written will create unfair competition for banks like his.
He says he’s not anti-cryptocurrency but he is opposed to a bill that cruised through the House of Representatives — with Minnesota Republican Tom Emmer, the House majority whip, as one of its biggest supporters.
Right, Emmer does not mind screwing community banks, given his crypto ties and such. I use a local community bank based in Elk River, MN, and like it and do not want the Wells Fargo type of game.
There is that bias. Also, full transparent disclosure, I immensely dislike Tom Emmer. Why not?
Strib continues with a clear note of what the dissatisfaction with the bill is about.
The bill, called the Clarity Act, sets guardrails for cryptocurrency companies. Both large and community banks say the bill does not put the same regulatory standards on crypto as it does traditional financial institutions.
Critics cite a loophole in current law that allows crypto companies to offer an interest-like reward that could entice people to move their money out of banks and into digital assets. They want senators to add language to the Clarity Act to repeal that loophole.
The legislation lands in the Senate as members return from recess this week, and will face some opposition because of the bankers’ campaign and an ethics provision some senators want because of President Donald Trump’s family ties to the industry.
Without a level regulatory playing field, small bankers see the cryptocurrency industry as an existential threat — to them and the small businesses and towns they support.
Full disclosure, I dislike crypto touts, Zhou with his Trump pardon, (search = binance money laundering and other offenses) where Zhou had to step aside and Binance payed billions in settlement, crypto having its seamy side (remember - Sam Bankman- Fried).
With crypto touts, including Emmer and Trump, (whose offspring has family grifting operations in crypto; "grifting" being an ethics-aware circumstantial inference -- there are no pending indictments or such); what's to like?
That sets the table. U.S.News carries a Reuters report - no paywall so readers can check it out -
By Hannah Lang
Sept 9 (Reuters) - A fight over major cryptocurrency legislation has spilled into the congressional summer recess, with the crypto industry and the banking sector mounting a final lobbying blitz in senators' home states ahead of a vote on the bill next week.
The industry has spent hundreds of millions of dollars campaigning to advance the Clarity Act, which it says will put crypto companies on a solid legal footing. The Senate will take a procedural vote on September 15 that could determine the fate of the bill, but with Democrats and some Republicans warning the bill has insufficient safeguards and could destabilize the banking system, its chances look slim, according to analysts.
During the recess, which began on August 8, the crypto industry and banking groups have taken their fight to senators' home states, deploying op-ed pieces, letter-writing drives and in-person events to rally grassroots support and sway lawmakers, according to executives and public materials.
"Our strategy during recess is ... about demonstrating the presence and enthusiasm of our community, in every state and every congressional district," said Mason Lynaugh, executive director of Stand With Crypto, an advocacy group backed by crypto company Coinbase.
[...] Republican U.S. President Donald Trump courted crypto cash on the campaign trail by pledging to promote policies friendly to the $2 trillion cryptocurrency market, and the White House has strongly backed the Clarity Act. The bill would address what the crypto industry says is legal ambiguity by defining which tokens qualify as securities versus commodities, and which regulators oversee them.
Crypto companies are anxious to pass the bill this year because polls favor Democrats to retake the House of Representatives in the November midterm elections, likely extinguishing what many see as a once-in-a-generation legislative opportunity. [...]
The Blockchain Association, a Washington group representing crypto companies, in late July launched the website clarityforamerica.com to help individuals and firms write to their senators to urge them to vote for the bill. [...]
BANKING INDUSTRY PUSHBACK
[...] Democrats, whose support is needed to clear the Senate's 60-vote threshold, say the bill lacks robust money-laundering and ethics safeguards. Some Republicans, including senators James Lankford of Oklahoma and Mike Rounds of South Dakota, have also expressed concerns that the bill would allow certain digital tokens to compete with bank deposits, potentially hurting lending.
The Independent Community Bankers of America, which has been fighting the stablecoin-related provision in Washington, has likewise been mobilizing its members across the country to meet with senators in their home offices to raise their concerns.
They are focused on senators beyond the 24-member Senate Banking Committee, which led the bill and voted to advance it in May, said Paul Merski, ICBA's executive vice president of congressional relations.
[...] Spokespeople for senators Paul, Rounds and Lankford did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Dodson referred Reuters to Stand With Crypto.
GROUP TARGETS WARNOCK IN GEORGIA
Tia Williams, president of the Stand With Crypto Georgia chapter and founder of blockchain-based software platform DocuHero, said she met with staff in the field office of U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat, during recess to discuss the bill.
[...] The Georgia chapter is arranging for local college students enthusiastic about crypto and blockchain technology to visit Warnock's office too. The group has also held advocacy events in Athens and Augusta, Williams said.
There is more, and no paywall. One more -
President Donald Trump endorsed the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act on Sunday as Senate Republicans published what they called the legislation's final text, even as banks and the crypto industry remained at odds over stablecoin provisions ahead of a Tuesday procedural vote.
Senators Cynthia Lummis, John Boozman, and Tim Scott said the updated text incorporates 126 substantive changes requested by Democrats, including ethics language drawn from a proposal by Senators Thom Tillis and Ruben Gallego. Trump agreed to ethics restrictions that would cover the president, vice president, members of Congress, judges, and their spouses, the senators said. The new version also gives the Treasury secretary authority to restrict stablecoin rewards if deposit outflows from community banks reach a substantial level — a measure designed as an emergency brake for community lenders.
That's Yahoo, which runs a series of related items on the crypto bill (No Paywall).
Related - CNBC, decrypt.com --
Crabgrass did not locate the markup of the package before the Senate for a floor vote on cloture.
If the Republicans somehow get 60 votes there likely will be voting on possible amendments, and a final vote. If the 60 votes on cloture are not there the bill dies; or there could be further negotiations.
Coverage did note that with Dems expected to do well in midterm voting, the Republicans and their crupto lobbying allies will push hard to get what they want now. In quoting sources, there was some Republican coverage saying "it's time" but readers interested in that line of thought should follow up on the linked items and if motivated, do their own further web research.
Again, Crabgrass favors killing the bill until after the midterns, and seeing where that leads.