Coinbase vs. The Banks Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has voiced his opposition to the Clarity Act. The central point of contention is whether stablecoins should be permitted to yield interest. The Coinbase Argument Coinbase’s position has its merits. Banks currently earn over 4% interest from the Federal Reserve while returning a mere 0.01% to 0.14% to their depositors. Coinbase argues that banks are lobbying Congress to prevent stablecoins from paying interest simply to protect this "middleman" profit structure—a move they claim goes against the best interests of consumers. The Banking Sector's Argument The banking industry opposes allowing stablecoins to offer yields (around 4.5%) primarily due to concerns over "financial instability." If interest-bearing stablecoins become mainstream, they could trigger a massive outflow of bank deposits. While banks could compete by raising their own deposit rates, doing so would inevitably drive up lending rates, placing a heavy burden on the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that rely on them for financing. In this regard, the banks' argument holds a certain degree of logic. Personal View In 2023, the U.S. witnessed the successive failures of several regional banks. At that time, authorities protected all deposits—even those exceeding the standard insurance cap—citing "systemic risk." If a pattern becomes normalized where banks keep all profits during good times but rely on authorities for bailouts during crises, managerial discipline is lost. It seems far healthier for the industry to be exposed to a moderate level of competition. Furthermore, it is hard to imagine that stablecoin yields currently possess enough influence to cause a significant drain on bank deposits. To slow down the potential for stablecoins to strengthen U.S. dollar hegemony, based purely on uncertain future risks, seems like it could undermine American national interests in the long run. Ultimately, this issue cannot be settled through a simple binary debate. The focus of future negotiations will be determining exactly where to draw the line: to what extent should banks be protected, and at what point should competition be embraced?
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Downfall In January 2026, the once–highly anticipated L2 project Eclipse officially declared, “We have no users.” Despite having raised $49 million, the project became a ghost town in just one year. The reason lay in a fatal mistake in its airdrop design. 1. Community Fractures Caused by Unfair Distribution At the token generation event in July 2025, Eclipse overwhelmingly favored participants in a “tap game” over liquidity providers (LPs). Users who merely tapped a screen received far greater rewards than investors who had taken real risks by committing millions of dollars. This stark sense of unfairness enraged the very supporters the ecosystem depended on. 2. Liquidity Collapse and the Silence of Activity Disappointment with the distribution immediately triggered a mass exodus of capital. * Evaporation of funds: Total Value Locked (TVL) fell by 95% in 11 months (from $49 million to $2.72 million). * Ghost town: Daily active users dropped to just 1–6, with only 1–2 transactions per day. * Short-term exit: Roughly 80% of addresses never returned after claiming the airdrop. 3. Organizational Breakdown and the Final Curtain The collapse was not limited to metrics—it struck the organization itself. Within just one month of the TGE, 65% of employees were laid off. The CEO resigned, followed by the departure of the founder. Major DeFi protocols withdrew one after another, pushing the project into a state of effective abandonment. 4. Trust Is the Only True Liquidity Eclipse’s failure proved a harsh truth: users attracted by speculative gimmicks (hype) leave the moment the rewards are gone. What sustainable ecosystems require is not just technical prowess or marketing slogans, but fair respect for contributors who take real risks. The cost of disregarding trust became a lasting lesson in blockchain history—one that rendered even innovative technology meaningless.
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Witness the rise of a new legend. Rate my current build! Legend of Base — by @qha98-xyz.farcaster.eth & @uptopia-xyz.farcaster.eth
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