WASHINGTON — Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee released a new
The bill is substantially shorter than a bipartisan version released last fall, and is more narrowly limited to stablecoin issuance. The September draft included provisions related to trading platforms and custodial service providers, along with algorithmic stablecoins and central bank digital currency that the most recent version omits.
As with the earlier version of the legislation, the new bill would require that stablecoins are fully backed by safe reserves. But the bill would still require that stablecoin issuers be approved or overseen by a regulator, it sets up a larger role for state regulators.
Specifically, the bill would create a path for issuers to receive their licensing and be overseen by their state regulator, rather than the Federal Reserve. The Fed would, however, hold the power to overrule a state regulator in the event of a disagreement over enforcement.
The bill also explicitly declares that stablecoins are not a security, a
The bill isn't expected to garner broad support from Democratic lawmakers, and a Republican aide on the House Financial Services Committee said that it's meant to be a "starting point" for discussions with the committee's Democrats and the White House on the issue.
Discussions have sputtered between Democratic and Republican lawmakers since Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C, the chairman of the committee, and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., agreed to the broad contours of a bipartisan bill last Congress. At a hearing last week, Waters said that lawmakers should be "starting from scratch" on a bill.
