I have recently noticed that the debate over stablecoin regulation has become more intense in banking and political circles. Jamie Dimon from JPMorgan Chase raised an interesting point in an interview: if crypto platforms hold customer funds and pay interest on them, that makes them a bank by all standards, and therefore they should be subject to the same banking regulations.

The idea Dimon presents is simple but powerful: rewards are essentially interest. If you accept deposits and pay interest on them, you are operating as a financial institution, not just an exchange platform. This means you need to comply with capital and liquidity requirements, anti-money laundering laws, and federal deposit insurance.

But there is a clear tension here. A chief executive of a major crypto platform supported a certain bill and then suddenly withdrew support before the vote. Dimon sees this as reflecting the crypto sector’s reluctance to accept the same standards applied to banks.

And here comes the key part: Dimon does not oppose competition. JPMorgan itself invests in blockchain technology and develops solutions on distributed ledger systems. But competition must be fair. If banks bear a heavy regulatory burden, companies offering similar financial services should bear the same burden.

What Dimon is really saying is that there needs to be a "level playing field by product." If you provide the same service, you must comply with the same rules. And this isn’t about protecting against competition, but about safeguarding the financial system from risks that could accumulate outside oversight.

The political scene in Washington is moving quickly on this issue. Legislators are reviewing new drafts, but banks and the crypto sector have not yet reached an agreement on whether stablecoin issuers should be allowed to offer yields on customer balances. Dimon suggests that banks might accept a compromise: rewards linked only to transactions, but no interest on stored balances.

This debate will shape the future of how stablecoins operate in the U.S. market. The fundamental question Dimon raises is clear: do we want a regulated system that is fair to all, or do we allow gray areas that could pose systemic risks?