Davos unites banking and cryptocurrencies, while the US is held back by divisions

The icy summits of Davos, once again, are the epicenter where the global financial future is being drawn. There, at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2026, a statement resonates with particular force from the mouth of Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle: “We are witnessing a palpable convergence between banks and blockchains.”

According to his vision, captured in a WEF article prior to the event, cryptocurrencies already transcend their experimental phase. Now they are evolving to become the “economic operating system” of the internet.

For the executive, thanks to stablecoins, asset tokenization and smart contractsownership and value exchange can now be coded natively, universally and programmably. This crucial advance allows us to operate without dependence on centralized intermediaries or cumbersome paper processes, marking the transformation of financial accessibility.

The effect of this transformation is an explosion in “economic velocity,” which translates into real-time payments, automated financing, smart insurance, and labor markets that can operate with unprecedented global efficiency.

Furthermore, Allaire emphasizes that, with the imminent arrival of autonomous artificial intelligence agents – systems that will need to execute verifiable transactions without constant human supervision – this decentralized and programmable infrastructure is not only an advantage, but will become absolutely indispensable for the future of the digital economy.

In Davos, after completing his second day of talks and meetings, Allaire’s vision is demonstrated, it is no longer theoretical. That’s because financial ecosystem leaders like JP Morgan, Standard Chartered and other traditional institutions openly discuss concrete alliances, real production cases and how stablecoins act as bridges between fiat money and decentralized systems.

While that is happening in Switzerland, on the other side of the world, in Washington, the CLARITY Bill, which promises certainty after years of uncertainty between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) of the United States, was abruptly halted before its committee vote on January 15, 2026. The trigger was the public withdrawal of support by Coinbase, the country’s largest digital asset platform.

The final draft, revealed just 48 hours before a key session of debate and amendments, contained structural defects, according to Brian Armstrong, as reported by NoticiasVE.

According to the points listed by the CEO of Coinbase, the bill prohibited the SEC from granting exemptions for asset tokenization of capital—just when the regulator was planning to accelerate that process.

It also attempted to reverse key aspects of the GENIUS Act (the bipartisan stablecoin regulation passed five months earlier), and established a regulatory hierarchy that forced non-securities tokens (under CFTC) to go through the SEC first, creating a precedent for interagency conflict.

However, the most explosive point is the prohibition on stablecoin issuers from paying direct returns or rewards, a demand from traditional banks that fear the flight of deposits. Coinbase saw this as an unacceptable renegotiation of a compromise already reached, and preferred to stop the project rather than pass a defective law that would be difficult to correct later, as detailed in its statements to the media.

What does this paralysis mean for the United States?

From the perspective of Coinbase and a part of the cryptocurrency industry, this action is not anti-regulation; On the contrary, it is a defense of the quality of regulation. This was stated by Coinbase executives Faryar Shirzad and Brett Tejpaul in a conversation recorded from Davos 2026. They did not reach a definitive conclusion or agreement on the CLARITY Act, but they agreed that it is preferable to delay approval to correct defects structural (such as restrictions on stablecoin rewards and SEC exemptions for tokenization) rather than enacting a long-term harmful law.

The fundamental objective is to ensure well-thought-out and forward-looking legislation that benefits the entire ecosystem, driving innovation, rather than giving in to pressures that could strangle it or excessively benefit a few established players. The objections did not focus on minor details, but on elements that were perceived as fundamentally detrimental to the growth and structure of the digital asset market.

However, in this Swiss scenario, where the maturity of stablecoins and tokenization is celebrated, which are already an integral part of global fast payments and brokerage services, the paralysis in Washington due to these divisions between the industry and traditional banking threatens to leave the United States on the back foot of an unstoppable economic revolution.

The repercussions are already tangible because the lack of regulatory clarity in the US has caused a slowdown in institutional investment, with outflows of $10 billion in cryptocurrency funds during the last quarter of 2025, according to data from CoinShares. This, more than a number, is a sign that talent and capital could migrate to more favorable jurisdictions, such as Europe, where frameworks such as MiCA offer greater certainty.

The possibility of definition exists and is crucial. If the US can overcome these divisions and forge smart regulation, it could consolidate its position as a global leader in digital finance, attracting investment and fostering innovation at home. A clear and flexible framework would allow the cryptocurrency industry and traditional banking to coexist and collaborate productively, unlocking the potential of stablecoins, tokenization and programmability that Allaire envisions for the “economic operating systems” of the future.

What happens if cryptocurrency regulation in the US does not advance?

Prolonged inaction would have severe consequences. The US risks losing its competitive advantage, seeing talent and capital migrate to jurisdictions with greater regulatory clarity, and seeing its companies forced to innovate abroad. Furthermore, the lack of a robust framework would leave American investors and consumers without the necessary protection, and the country without the infrastructure to fully take advantage of the next wave of the digital economy.

Today, in a world where digital assets are increasingly part of everyday life, this contrast resonates strongly. As Davos forges alliances that could democratize finance on a global scale, the United States faces the imperative of resolving its internal tensions.

As Allaire stated in his article, «maturity comes when we collaborate, not when we compete.» The future of cryptocurrencies and, to a large extent, of the global financial system, will depend on the United States finding that balance and forge regulation that, like the Davos vision, promotes collaboration and not confrontation. The key players — industry, banks, regulators, Congress — are back at the table, negotiating, hoping that the pause will serve to build a solid future, not deepen the divide.

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