JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon said his bank would fight the Clarity Act, the crypto market-structure bill moving through Congress, and attacked Coinbase chief executive
Brian Armstrong over his push for it. Speaking in a Fox Business interview, Dimon called the bill "a threat to the financial system" and dismissed
Armstrong in crude terms, vowing: "We'll fight it. If we lose, we lose. But it will be fought."
What is the Clarity Act? The bill would settle which US regulator oversees digital assets, splitting jurisdiction between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Its supporters,
Armstrong among the most prominent, say it would finally give the industry the regulatory clarity it has long sought.
What are Dimon's objections? He said the legislation would let crypto firms "effectively pay interest on deposits" with "almost no legal protections," and that platforms acting like banks should face the same anti-money-laundering, insurance and capital rules. Banks fear that letting exchanges reward customers for holding stablecoins would accelerate a flight of deposits from traditional lenders, Bitcoin Magazine reported. He also flagged cross-border payments, warning that once money enters digital wallets overseas it can move between them "with no visibility and no accountability."
How personal did it get? Dimon accused the Coinbase chief of "spending hundreds of millions of dollars in Washington" to push the bill through and said "no one is going to bow down to this guy." JPMorgan joins the American Bankers Association, community banks and credit unions in opposing the measure, sharpening
Armstrong's role as the crypto sector's lead antagonist to Wall Street.
Figures referenced: Brian Armstrong. — JudgeMarket.