🔵Coinbase and PayPal continue to push forward with stablecoin reward programs despite the GENIUS ban DeThings, August 5 - According to Decrypt, after the U.S. GENIUS Act took effect last month, which prohibits stablecoin issuers from providing passive income through staking or depositing balances to users, Coinbase and PayPal are still offering users annual returns of 3%-5% through their "reward programs." Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong explained during the earnings call that the company is not the issuer of USDC (which is issued by Circle) and that what they provide is a "reward" rather than "interest," thus not violating the new regulations. PayPal similarly maintains its PYUSD stablecoin's 3.7% yield program through the third-party issuer Paxos. Senate staff indicated that the act only regulates the behavior of issuers and does not impose restrictions on secondary market service providers.