Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad disputed American Bankers Association concerns that stablecoin rewards permitted under the CLARITY Act could pull deposits from community banks and reduce local lending. Shirzad said Coinbase has paid rewards on USDC for more than four years while community-bank deposits rose 26%, or about $482 billion, between June 2019 and March 2026. Citing studies by Charles River Associates and the Council of Economic Advisers, he said available evidence shows no significant relationship between stablecoins and bank deposits, while acknowledging that regulations implementing the GENIUS Act are not complete. In a separate CoinDesk opinion piece, Nate Franzen, head of agricultural finance at First Dakota National Bank, cited an ABA estimate that up to $4.7 billion of roughly $47 billion deposited at South Dakota regional banks could move into stablecoins, potentially reducing lending capacity by up to $3.7 billion. Franzen urged strict limits on rewards and interest-like payments, noting that stablecoins lack federal insurance comparable to the FDIC’s $250,000 deposit coverage. The ABA supports strengthening, rather than blocking, the roughly 600-page CLARITY Act and seeks clearer language distinguishing activity-based incentives from returns that function like interest. Shirzad said the current text makes that distinction and warned broader revisions could create uncertainty for stablecoin payments and settlement.