The Journal. Big Banks vs. Big Crypto
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Mar 17, 2026 
Amrith Ramkumar, a Wall Street Journal reporter on tech and regulation, unpacks the showdown between Coinbase and big banks. He follows the fight over stablecoin rewards, the loophole shaping Congress’s crypto bill, and why banks say crypto firms are acting like banks without the same rules. He also tracks the political pressure and what is at stake for crypto’s credibility.
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Davos Clash Exposed The Bank Crypto War
- Jamie Dimon confronted Brian Armstrong at Davos after Armstrong accused banks of trying to sabotage crypto legislation.
- Amrith Ramkumar says the public blowup showed how openly banks and crypto firms now view each other as rivals for finance’s future.
Stablecoin Rewards Are Coinbase's Bank Challenge
- Coinbase uses stablecoin rewards to mimic bank-like returns without making loans, pulling customers toward a broader financial super app.
- Through Circle, it shares revenue and invests backing dollars in short-term Treasurys, making rewards worth billions to Coinbase over time.
The GENIUS Act Left Coinbase A Critical Loophole
- Banks fear stablecoin rewards could pull trillions from deposits into less-regulated crypto platforms, weakening their lending engine.
- The GENIUS Act banned issuers like Circle from paying interest, but left a loophole letting exchanges like Coinbase still offer rewards.