To the Editor:
I live in rural Louisiana. My bank isn’t a skyscraper — it’s a building on the main square that knows my name. And right now, Washington is quietly making decisions that could put that bank, and hundreds like it across this state, in serious trouble.
Here’s the basic issue. Congress recently passed a law setting rules for “stablecoins” — a type of digital money tied to the U.S. dollar. The law was supposed to stop these tech companies from paying interest to attract people’s savings, the way a bank would. But there’s a loophole. Some companies can still offer those returns, just under a different name. The result is the same: people move their money out of local banks and into these digital accounts.
When deposits leave a community bank, the bank can’t make loans. That means the farmer who needs an equipment loan, the small business owner looking to expand, the family buying their first home — they all have fewer options. The community bankers’ trade group estimates this loophole could drain $1.3 trillion in deposits from banks like ours, cutting local lending by $850 billion nationwide.
Congress has a chance to fix this. A new bill called the CLARITY Act is working its way through the Senate right now, and Senator John Kennedy sits on the very committee voting on it. The Senate draft includes language to close the loophole.
I’d ask Senator Kennedy to stand with our community banks and its customers like me. Digital savings products should play by the same rules as banks. If a tech company is offering returns to attract your money, it’s acting like a bank — and it should be regulated like one.
Close the loophole. Protect our community banks. That’s the right call for Louisiana.
Sincerely,
Don Willard
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