White House Narrows Crypto Industry Talks as Stablecoin Deadline Nears

The White House is hosting a follow-up meeting on 10 Feb with talks set to cover how stablecoins are treated under pending US crypto legislation. Officials signalled that the dispute needs to be resolved by the end of February, Bloomberg reported last week. 

Second meeting narrows the room 

The White House’s closed-door talks are proceeding this week with a narrower group of participants, Sandmark has learned. 

A spokesperson for one of the main crypto lobbying groups told Sandmark that Coinbase is the only crypto company expected to participate in the 10 Feb meeting, marking a shift from the broader mix of industry groups and stakeholders involved in the first session. 

The first White House meeting took place on 2 Feb, convened by the White House’s crypto council and ended without an agreement on stablecoin yield.  

Bank trade groups in the initial session included representatives from the American Bankers Association, the Bank Policy Institute, the Consumer Bankers Association, among others. Crypto industry participation at that meeting included major advocacy groups such as the Blockchain Association and The Digital Chamber. 

Coinbase and the Senate roadblock 

Coinbase’s objections have become one of the most visible impediments to advancing crypto market-structure legislation in the Senate. In mid-January, the Senate Banking Committee scrapped a scheduled markup of its crypto market structure bill after Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong publicly withdrew the company’s support, saying the draft contained "too many issues" and could not be supported as written. 

That public withdrawal came hours before the committee was set to debate amendments, prompting the session’s cancellation with no new date set. The draft included provisions on stablecoin yield and rewards that Coinbase and other industry participants argued would effectively limit platforms’ ability to offer incentives on stablecoin holdings, a core part of their business models. 

The fallout has made the exchange a central figure in the impasse and has drawn attention from the Treasury Department.  

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has warned publicly that delays in advancing crypto market-structure legislation risk prolonging regulatory uncertainty, pressing the industry to support a framework rather than block legislation progress.  

Community banks at the centre

Community banks have emerged as a key pressure point in the White House-led talks, as negotiators look for a way to resolve the stablecoin yield dispute without stalling broader crypto legislation. Crypto firms have recently floated proposals that would give smaller banks a structural role in stablecoin reserve management, an attempt to offset banks’ concerns about deposit flight. 

The approach is meant to address opposition from community lenders, which have warned that yield-bearing stablecoins could drain deposits and constrain local lending. Whether those trade-offs are enough to soften resistance, particularly within the Senate Banking Committee, is now central to whether talks can produce a deal before March.