US digital asset advisor: Stablecoins are not bank deposits

Patrick Witt, executive director of the White House's crypto advisory committee, has pushed back against comments from JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon regarding stablecoin interest payments. Dimon had previously warned that if crypto firms want to pay interest on stablecoins, they must be subject to the same regulations as banks, or the public would pay the price. Witt countered that the core issue is not whether interest is paid, but the act of lending or rehypothecating the dollars held in reserve. He noted that the GENIUS Act explicitly prohibits stablecoin issuers from lending or using reserves as collateral. Given this structure, Witt emphasized that it is difficult to view stablecoins as the same concept as bank deposits.