Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser has publicly backed passage of the CLARITY Act, telling Fox Business this week that well-crafted digital-asset legislation would strengthen the US financial system. "We would like to see a good bill go through," Fraser said, while adding that Citigroup is "not giving up on pushing to get some improvements made to the bill" before it clears Congress.
Fraser's endorsement is notable given her position running one of the largest banks in the country by assets — a $3 trillion institution — at a moment when the traditional banking industry has been split over how aggressively to support crypto-specific legislation.
The Sticking Point: Stablecoin Rewards
Fraser's support comes with a specific condition attached. She has raised concerns that provisions allowing rewards tied to stablecoin holdings could quietly pull deposits out of the traditional banking system, undermining banks' ability to lend. "If you are having a reward system on deposits, it could have a detrimental impact on their deposits, and therefore their ability to provide lending and access to credit in parts of the U.S. that crypto won't reach, and frankly, the large banks don't reach," she said.
Under a Senate compromise version of the bill currently being negotiated, platforms would be barred from offering rewards simply for holding stablecoins, while incentives tied to actual transactions or payments could still be permitted — language that partially addresses Fraser's concern without eliminating stablecoin yield programs outright.
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Banks Split, Clock Ticking
Fraser's comments land as the bill heads toward a critical Senate cloture vote scheduled for September 15, the procedural step that determines whether the CLARITY Act advances to formal floor consideration. Her position — backing the bill's overall goal of regulatory clarity while lobbying to reshape specific provisions — reflects a broader pattern among major bank executives: few are opposing the legislation outright, but many are working to ensure the final text doesn't erode deposit bases that fund their core lending businesses.
