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The cryptocurrency industry has amassed $193 million in political power with the midterm elections just ten months away, and the White House is now faced with saving the stalled digital asset bill.
With that kind of money on the table, the Trump administration has effectively been called to the negotiating table.
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The war chest is loaded before the battle even begins
The cryptocurrency political action committee Fairshake announced on Tuesday that it has $193 million at the end of 2025, which is about the $195 million it spent during the entire election cycle of 2024. The money is already in the bank, and the campaign has not started.
Ripple contributed $25 million, venture capital firm a16z added $24 million in the second half of last year, while Coinbase provided $25 million in the first half. A Fairshake spokesperson said the political action committee remains committed to supporting pro-crypto candidates and opposing lawmakers hostile to the industry.
Bill predicts, the White House will intervene
The problem: While this financial arsenal hangs over Washington, the highest legislative priority of the industry is blocked. The CLARITY Act, a comprehensive bill on the market structure of digital assets, has been withdrawn. From a vote of the Senate Banking Committee earlier this month After a fight between digital currency companies and traditional banks over the return provisions of stablecoins.
Now the White House is directly involved. President Trump’s Cryptocurrency Policy Council will convene leaders of both groups on Monday to reach a compromise. The Blockchain Association, Digital Storehouse and Cryptocurrency Innovation Council have confirmed their participation.
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Banks are sounding the alarm: $1.5 trillion is at risk
The opposition to the banking industry is not theatrical – it is existential.
Jeff Kendrick, Global Head of Digital Assets Research at Standard Chartered, released a statement… A stern warning This week, it was estimated that American bank deposits could fall by about a third of the total market value of stablecoins. If this market grows to $2 trillion, developed banks could lose about $500 billion in deposits by the end of 2028. Banks in emerging markets face an even steeper cliff – up to $1 trillion in the same period.
The calculations are simple but hard. With pegged-dollar stablecoins currently accounting for about $301 billion in market capitalization, tens of billions have already migrated from traditional banks. Unlike the banking collapse induced by the crisis, this is structural – slow and steady attrition.
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan sounded a more dramatic alarm a few days ago, suggesting that as much as $6 trillion — about 30-35% of the total deposits of US commercial banks — could eventually turn into stablecoins.
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Why is the money not coming back?
A key detail that makes the threat worse: stablecoin reserves are not returned to the banking system.
Kendrick estimates that Tether only holds 0.02% of its reserves in bank deposits, while Circle holds about 14.5%. The rest is in Treasury bonds and other instruments outside the traditional banking system. Money that moves out of banks and into stablecoins remains largely out of circulation.
Regional banks face the greatest exposure to risk. Standard Chartered targeted Huntington Bancshares, M&T Bank, Truist Financial and CFG Bank as particularly vulnerable, given their heavy reliance on net interest margins from deposit funding.
Family war
At the heart of the dispute lies a simple question: Are stablecoin issuers or cryptocurrency exchanges allowed to pay interest on dollar-pegged tokens?
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A stablecoin law last year banned issuers from paying interest directly, but banks argue that left a loophole that allowed third parties, such as exchanges, to offer the yield, creating new competition for deposits.
Cryptocurrency companies against which stablecoins already generate returns through reserves and market activity. They say withholding bonuses unfairly protects incumbents and stifles innovation. Coinbase strenuously opposed the restrictions, arguing that they would limit innovation and institutional adoption.
Political mathematics
The direct intervention of the White House reveals how urgently the Trump administration wants to pass this law. Trump campaigned heavily on cryptocurrencies during his election campaign and now faces pressure to do so.
Fairshake’s spending in 2024 paid off big. Its supported candidates won by landslide margins, Congress passed stablecoin legislation, and industry-born regulators were appointed. Securities and Exchange Commission and other key agencies. The $193 million isn’t just a number, it’s a leverage card.
Industry leaders credited the White House with bringing all sides to the table. But from another perspective, it is the administration that has been withdrawn.
