Jamie Dimon didn’t hold back. The JPMorgan CEO tore into the CLARITY Act at the Reagan National Economic Forum this week, saying banks ‘will not accept’ the bill as it stands. He also took a personal shot at Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, calling him ‘full of shit’ and accusing him of spending hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying Washington for the legislation.
What the CLARITY Act would do
The bill cleared the Senate Banking Committee and the Agriculture Committee earlier in 2025. It would let banks earn interest on deposits or stablecoins — but Dimon argues the current version lacks proper safeguards. He said it fails to address anti-money laundering (AML) and Bank Secrecy Act requirements. For Dimon, that’s a deal-breaker.
Dimon’s specific complaints
The CEO didn’t just lob insults. He laid out concrete problems. Allowing banks to earn interest on stablecoin-like deposits without clear protections, he said, creates risk. He also hammered the bill’s silence on AML rules. ‘It doesn’t deal with anti-money laundering,’ Dimon said. ‘It doesn’t deal with the Bank Secrecy Act.’ Without those fixes, he argued, the CLARITY Act is a dangerous piece of legislation.
Who else opposes it
Dimon was careful to note that opposition isn’t limited to the big banks. He said the American Bankers Association, small banks, and credit unions are all lined up against the bill. ‘It’s not just JPMorgan,’ he said. ‘It’s the industry.’ That broad pushback could make it harder for the bill to move forward in Congress.
The CLARITY Act is still alive in the Senate, but Dimon’s public broadside — and his personal attack on Armstrong — signals that the fight is far from over.
