Reportedly, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon confronted Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, calling him a liar over his comments about banks trying to kill crypto legislation.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Dimon interrupted a coffee meeting between Armstrong and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. He pointed his finger at the Coinbase chief and said, “You are full of s—.”
Armstrong had appeared on TV days earlier saying banks were lobbying to sabotage crypto-friendly regulation in the US.
Dimon was not alone. Several banking executives gave Armstrong the cold shoulder at Davos.
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan met with him for 30 minutes but shut down his argument.
“If you want to be a bank, just be a bank,” Moynihan said.
Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf told Armstrong there was “nothing for them to talk about.” Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser gave him less than a minute.
Coinbase is a client of both JPMorgan and Citi.
The fight comes down to one issue: stablecoin rewards.
Crypto firms like Coinbase pay around 3.5% to users who hold stablecoins. Banks pay under 0.1% on checking accounts. Banks say these payouts work like interest-bearing accounts but skip the rules they have to follow. They warn that customers could move large sums out of traditional banks and into crypto.
Armstrong says the market should decide. Banks can raise their rates or launch their own stablecoins if they want to compete.
Just before the Senate Banking Committee was set to vote on the CLARITY Act, Armstrong posted on X that Coinbase could not support the bill.
He said the draft included a “defacto ban on tokenized equities,” DeFi restrictions, and amendments that would “kill rewards on stablecoins, allowing banks to ban their competition.”
“We’d rather have no bill than a bad bill,” he wrote.
The committee postponed its vote within hours.
The White House now plans to bring bank and crypto leaders together. David Sacks, Trump’s crypto czar, is expected to attend.
Stablecoin rewards offer higher yields than typical checking accounts, which may encourage users to shift funds from banks into crypto. This could pressure banks to rethink deposit rates or launch their own digital alternatives to retain customers.
If enacted as drafted, the CLARITY Act could restrict tokenized equities and decentralized finance (DeFi) activities. This may slow development of new financial products and reduce consumer options in the crypto market.
The planned meetings between crypto and banking leaders aim to create a balanced framework for stablecoins. Outcomes could shape rules on rewards, risk management, and competition between traditional banks and crypto firms.
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