The Partisan Front Lines Are Stalling Cryptocurrency Stablecoin Payment Regulation

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Following a hearing on Tuesday on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) role and capacity to oversee cryptocurrency businesses, legislators convened again on Wednesday for a hearing titled “Understanding Stablecoins’ Role in Payments and the Need for Legislation.”

The hearing on stablecoins, sponsored by the newly formed House Subcommittee on Digital Assets, highlighted that there is still a substantial vacuum in federal law controlling digital assets, regardless of its use case.

When we originally reported on the 73-page draft law under consideration at Wednesday’s session, there was a chance that Congress may bring stablecoins deeper into the legislative fold by approving the first significant piece of crypto legislation shared by politicians in 2023.

The proposed legislation would let both banks and non-banks to create stablecoins.
Those hopes were dashed by what observers saw as bipartisan squabbling among the current MPs.

Gulf Democrats and Republicans

“I want to reiterate the urgency for those of us in this room to work together to pass payment stablecoin legislation,” said subcommittee Chairman French Hill, R-Ark., to begin the discussion.

“Recent reports indicate that digital asset developers are leaving America to go to countries that have a more established regulatory framework for digital assets,” Hill said, describing the situation as “not good” for innovation, jobs, or consumer and investor protection.

The discussion draft of stablecoin regulation, titled “A bill to provide requirements for payment stablecoin issuers, research on a digital dollar, and for other purposes,” was authored by then-House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and ranking member Patrick McHenry, R-N.C.