U.S. President Donald Trump has signed the GENIUS Act, mandating stablecoin issuers to back their coins with high-quality assets at a minimum 1:1 ratio, such as U.S. dollars, short-term Treasury bonds, reverse repos, and money market funds. According to PANews, the act also prohibits direct interest payments to stablecoin holders.
The White House Council of Economic Advisers' model indicates that under baseline conditions, the prohibition on stablecoin yields could increase bank loans by approximately $2.1 billion, representing only 0.02% of total loans, with a net welfare cost of around $800 million. Large banks are expected to contribute about 76% of the new loans, while community banks would account for approximately 24%.
Even under extreme assumptions, such as reserves being entirely non-lendable cash and the Federal Reserve abandoning its current framework, the increase in bank loans would only be about 4.4%. The report suggests that the yield ban offers minimal protection for bank lending but could weaken the competitive benefits brought by stablecoins.
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