DaLand's Ungerland: New Clarity Act Language Is A 'Wake-Up Call' For Credit Unions, Not Just A Crypto Bill
By CU Today Staff —
ROCKY HILL, Conn.-Credit unions that view the revised Clarity Act simply as legislation governing stablecoins are missing its far broader strategic implications, according to Jon Ungerland, CIO and chief of staff at DaLand CUSO.
While much of the industry's attention has centered on whether the bill adequately limits stablecoin yield, Ungerland argued the latest language signals something much larger: Congress is laying the groundwork for a financial system that extends well beyond today's electronic dollar.
"I think credit unions have to shift their thinking," Ungerland told CUToday.info. "The banking lobbies are going to accept some form of this language because it looks like they're getting the concessions they wanted related to dividends and yield. Credit unions have to look at the advent of this legislation as a wake-up call. Digital assets and new networks for settlement, payments and value storage are no longer a probability or a future possibility—it's a revelation."
According to Ungerland, the revised language changes the industry's strategic conversation. Rather than debating whether digital assets eventually become mainstream, he said the legislation demonstrates that large financial institutions are already preparing for a post-electronic-dollar environment.
"The bankers have been working on integration to new rails," he said. "If credit unions believe there's a future where they can remain comfortable processing only the electronic dollar, the language of this legislation indicates there's a pretty clear future beyond the electronic dollar that's already plotted out."
Yield Debate Misses The Bigger Picture
Much of the debate surrounding the latest draft has focused on provisions prohibiting stablecoin issuers from paying interest while preserving certain transaction- and loyalty-based rewards. Some industry observers have warned those exceptions could still allow crypto firms to offer products that function much like interest-bearing accounts.
Ungerland, however, believes credit unions should avoid becoming consumed by that debate.
"I actually think the yield language is a gift," he said. "Credit unions haven't always been competitive on deposit rates alone. In a world with multiple networks and multiple forms of money beyond the electronic dollar, credit unions should return to their roots of servicing wealth in all forms."
Instead of trying to compete strictly on rates, Ungerland said credit unions can leverage relationship pricing already built into many modern core processing systems.
"The ability to focus on relationship pricing, relationship rewards and relationship yield—that should be in their wheelhouse," he said. "If digital wealth becomes part of the member profile inside the core, institutions can create incentives and value around the entire relationship."
Ungerland also cautioned that stablecoin yield represents only one small piece of the legislation.
"Stablecoins and stablecoin yields are not the totality of the Clarity Act," he said. "The Act deals with custody of all digital assets. It names many other digital asset networks that are going to become important infrastructure going forward."
He believes the legislation ultimately positions large financial institutions to move beyond stablecoins altogether.
"It lays the groundwork for the large banks to leapfrog stablecoins and issue tokenized deposits," he said. "If credit unions get too myopically focused on stablecoin yield, they're going to be at a disadvantage while banks roll out Bitcoin banking, tokenized deposits and settlement on networks that have nothing to do with stablecoins."
Ungerland addressed relying on third-party digital asset providers. He argued that outsourcing custody or digital wallets could ultimately erode member relationships in much the same way payment networks have reduced financial institutions' ownership of payments.
"Credit unions need to be very careful about simply leasing access to the future," he said. "There's a lot of players offering omnibus solutions, external wallets and crypto bolt-ons. It's not possible to outsource digital asset processing and still remain at the epicenter of the consumer relationship."
Instead, he said credit unions should process digital assets themselves whenever possible.
"You've got to own the digital wealth,” Ungerland said. “You have to process it locally if you want to protect and service that relationship locally. Otherwise you risk losing the wallet share, the deposits and ultimately the payment streams."
DaLand CUSO develops technology designed to integrate digital assets directly into a credit union's core processing system rather than routing members to outside exchanges or wallets. The company markets its Coin2Core gateway as a way for institutions to custody digital assets, support blockchain-based payments and eventually issue tokenized deposits while keeping member relationships inside the credit union.
For Ungerland, the message from the latest Clarity Act draft is ultimately less about cryptocurrency than strategy.
"What Clarity illustrates," he said, "is that the big banks have already been building the post-dollar integrations and post-dollar products. Every credit union leader needs to be thinking strategically about how they're going to service wealth and function as an economic engine in their communities beyond the era of today's electronic dollar."
Originally reported by CU Today.