Lummis Pushes for Clarity on Bank Crypto Holdings

Senator Cynthia Lummis is advocating for the CLARITY Act, which would allow all U.S. banks to freely buy and hold Bitcoin and other digital assets. In a live Bloomberg Crypto interview from Capitol Hill on September 15, she argued that this move could trigger one of the biggest capital inflows in U.S. history.

The bill's Section 401 would list buying and selling digital assets as a permitted activity for national banks, covering everything from custody to principal holdings. However, not all banks are on board with this proposal, and the vote math is tight, requiring at least seven Democrats to cross over to reach 60 votes.

The banking lobby has pushed back against the bill, citing concerns that Section 10404 risks draining community bank deposits into stablecoin products. Senator Lummis has not backed down, firing back at JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon after he vowed to fight the bill's stablecoin provisions.