Goldman Sachs Breaks From the Banking Lobby on the CLARITY Act — and the Split Runs Straight Along Business Model Lines

Written by : Bitnxt

July 25, 20264 min read

Goldman Sachs Breaks From the Banking Lobby on the CLARITY Act — and the Split Runs Straight Along Business Model Lines

Goldman Sachs endorsed the CLARITY Act despite banking industry opposition, highlighting a divide over stablecoins while Senate Democrats continue blocking the bill's path to 60 votes.

Wall Street just stopped speaking with one voice on crypto legislation. Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO David Solomon told Politico on Thursday that he is very supportive of moving the CLARITY Act forward so market structure can be established and the innovation process can advance — breaking publicly with a banking lobby that has spent weeks fighting the bill.

Solomon didn't pretend the legislation is finished. He acknowledged it remains imperfect and open to debate, but argued that passing a framework matters more than resolving every disagreement first — calling it a step in the right direction with more work to follow. He declined to comment on other bankers' views, while stating Goldman's position plainly: the firm believes strongly in one system where everybody can participate.

The Split Is About Deposits

The rift running through Wall Street isn't ideological — it's structural, and it traces directly to how each institution makes money. The fight centers on the bill's stablecoin provision governing the rewards crypto platforms can pay users holding dollar-pegged tokens.

Commercial and community banks see an existential threat. Six of the largest banking trade groups — including the American Bankers Association, Bank Policy Institute, and Consumer Bankers Association — published a joint statement Wednesday warning that the provision poses a risk to the local lending that drives US economic activity. Their logic is straightforward: yield-bearing stablecoins pull deposits out of insured accounts, and deposits are what fund local loans.

Investment banks face a different calculus. Goldman relies far less on consumer and commercial deposits, so the stablecoin yield question threatens comparatively little of its business. What Solomon cares about is elsewhere in the bill — the language that would let regulated institutions that have been on the sidelines participate more actively, which he described as the most important thing in the legislation at this stage.

Goldman Has Skin in the Game

The endorsement fits a firm that has already committed capital. Goldman has disclosed a $1.1 billion position in a spot Bitcoin ETF, called the funds an astonishing success, and Solomon has acknowledged holding a small personal Bitcoin position. The bank has been actively expanding its digital asset trading and tokenization work — making regulatory clarity on market structure a higher priority than a deposit fight it isn't really in.

The contrast with JPMorgan is stark. Jamie Dimon has effectively declared war on the bill and publicly upbraided Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong over the industry's lobbying back in May. Same city, same industry, opposite conclusions — because the two banks' balance sheets are built differently.

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Meanwhile, the Votes Still Aren’t There

Solomon spoke just as Senate Republicans began circulating new bill text ahead of a possible floor vote next week — following the updated draft Senator Cynthia Lummis unveiled Wednesday, which combines the separate bills previously passed by the Senate Banking and Agriculture Committees. The stablecoin section contains the Tillis-Alsobrooks compromise, barring passive yield on idle balances while permitting narrow activity-based rewards, a line the banking lobby says leaves too much room.

But the banking lobby isn't the obstacle that decides this. Seven Senate Democrats — including Senator Angela Alsobrooks, one of only two Democrats who advanced the bill through committee in May — have said the latest draft falls short on ethics, consumer protection, and other critical provisions. Republicans need Democratic votes to clear the Senate's 60-vote threshold, and Democratic resistance has cut the bill's estimated 2026 passage odds by 15 percentage points from their July 21 peak.

The Pressure Campaign Before Recess

With the August recess approaching, industry leaders are pressing hard. Solomon now joins Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Coinbase's Brian Armstrong in urging lawmakers to act — Garlinghouse endorsing an argument from Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty on July 22 that frames the CLARITY Act as a consumer protection measure strengthening anti-money-laundering and customer-verification requirements.

The House passed its version in July 2025 and the Senate Banking Committee advanced its text 15-9 in May. What remains is the hardest part. Goldman's defection from the banking lobby removes one source of opposition — but it doesn't supply a single vote, and the seven senators who do control the outcome haven't moved.

Source: Based on reporting via crypto.news, Decrypt, Bitcoin Magazine, and Stocktwits, drawing on David Solomon’s interview with Politico. Legislative details are fluid and this is a developing story. This article is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice.