WASHINGTON — Biden administration officials met with U.S. financial regulators Monday to discuss a path forward for regulating stablecoins in light of the rapid growth in the digital asset field.
At the meeting, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged meeting participants to “act quickly to ensure there is an appropriate U.S. regulatory framework in place” to address the risks associated with stablecoins, according to a statement from the Treasury Department.
While few details were made available about the issues discussed at the meeting, the Treasury Department said that staffers gave a presentation in preparation of a report on stablecoins — a type of digital currency that is pegged to normal currency such as the U.S. dollar — that the president’s working group on financial markets plans to release in the upcoming months.
“In the meeting, participants discussed the rapid growth of stablecoins, potential uses of stablecoins as a means of payment, and potential risks to end-users, the financial system, and national security,” Treasury said in a press release.
The meeting comes as U.S. officials have been increasingly worried about the risks posed by the exchange of stablecoins, and their potential use for money laundering. The Fed is also considering the possibility of issuing a
“Bringing together regulators will enable us to assess the potential benefits of stablecoins while mitigating risks they could pose to users, markets, or the financial system,”
The working group includes Yellen, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler and Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Rostin Behnam.
Fed Vice Chair of Supervision Randal Quarles, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Jelena McWilliams, acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu and Undersecretary of the Treasury Nellie Liang were also in attendance at the meeting Monday.
