The Banks Are Up Against the Digital Asset Industry in a DC Policy Battle, and Crypto’s Been ‘Winning,’ Says Custodia Bank CEO

The CEO of Custodia Bank, a US financial institution specializing in cryptocurrencies, says passing crypto legislation in the US has been a pitched battle between traditional banks and the digital asset industry.

The House of Representatives this week passed the CLARITY Act, the GENIUS Act and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act.

But only the GENIUS Act, which establishes the federal rules for stablecoins, has so far cleared both chambers of Congress.

In an interview on CNBC, Custodia CEO Caitlin Long says that getting the crypto bills approved has been “an ugly sausage-making process” that clashes traditional finance against the digital asset industries.

“You’ve got some pretty powerful interests here. The banks are up against the crypto industry, and so far, the crypto industry has been winning.”

Long says she is optimistic that the crypto industry has the upper hand because of the financial challenges that the US faces.

“What problem is the government trying to solve? The US has enormous fiscal deficits and needs to have demand for purchasers of US Treasuries, and the crypto market would never have gotten permission, [though] some of us tried. Folks who went around the regulators and created entire new markets of buyers for US Treasuries, that’s what Congress and the Trump administration are trying to enable here.”