New Polling Shows Dominant Support for Community Banks Amid Debate Over Digital Assets

Washington, D.C. (April 28, 2026) - With community bankers gathering in Washington this week for the Independent Community Bankers of America's 2026 ICBA Capital Summit, new polling data show that Americans support community banks and want to ensure the industry is not harmed in the current debate over digital assets policy.

"As community bankers representing local communities nationwide gather in Washington for meetings with their members of Congress, new ICBA polling demonstrates that Americans strongly support community bank views amid the ongoing debate over digital assets market structure," ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said. "With new polling showing Americans understand the importance of ensuring continued access to locally based banking, ICBA is proud to continue helping community banks advocate in Washington and power $4.1 trillion in total lending activity in local communities nationwide."

Views on Digital Assets Policy: As Washington debates digital assets policy, Americans' top priorities are maintaining access to insured accounts and preserving community bank lending. The ICBA polling of U.S. adults conducted by Morning Consult this month found:

• 65% say it is important for policymakers debating crypto policies to ensure digital assets policy avoids harming bank lending in local communities.

• 62% say policymakers should ensure crypto policy preserves consumer access to insured deposit accounts.

Community Bank Favorability: More broadly, consumers showed continued support for community banks. The ICBA polling found:

• 74% say banking with a bank based in their local community is important to them.

• 74% say that when deciding where to place money and investments, it is important that the institution is part of the regulated banking system.

• 73% say it is important that banks make lending decisions locally, within the community in which they operate.

Digital Assets Market Structure Debate: Digital assets policy is one of the key issues community bankers will be advocating this week. With the Treasury Department estimating that stablecoins will grow from $300 billion to trillions of dollars by the end of the decade, research from the Federal Reserve, New York Fed, and Kansas City Fed project that retail deposits substituting into stablecoins will increase liquidity risk and funding costs, hampering the supply of credit in local communities. An ICBA data analysis of industry research estimates that allowing crypto intermediaries to pay interest or yield on payment stablecoins would reduce community bank lending by $850 billion due to a $1.3 trillion reduction in the industry's deposits-significantly diminishing lending and economic resilience in local communities.

The GENIUS Act took the first step in addressing the risks posed by yield-bearing payment stablecoins by prohibiting issuers from offering yield, interest, or other considerations. ICBA continues calling on policymakers to explicitly extend this prohibition to crypto exchanges, affiliates, and other intermediaries to enable community banks to continue powering local economies across the United States.

This week's ICBA Capital Summit also will feature influential speakers who will address community bankers as they advocate in Washington, including:

• House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill (R-Ark.).

• House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chairman Dan Meuser (R-Pa.).

• FDIC Chairman Travis Hill.

• Treasury Under Secretary for Domestic Finance Jonathan McKernan.

• ICBA Chair Alice P. Frazier, president and CEO of Potomac Bank in Charles Town, W.Va.

• ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey.

About ICBA

The Independent Community Bankers of America® has one mission: to create and promote an environment where community banks flourish. We power the potential of the nation's community banks through effective advocacy, education, and innovation.

As local and trusted sources of credit, America's community banks leverage their relationship-based business model and innovative offerings to channel deposits into the neighborhoods they serve, creating jobs, fostering economic prosperity, and fueling their customers' financial goals and dreams. For more information, visit ICBA's website at icba.org.