Congresswoman Maxine Waters, the main Democrat on the Home Monetary Providers Committee, known as for a bipartisan settlement on stablecoins by the shut of 2024.
Throughout a committee listening to on Sept. 24, Waters expressed optimism {that a} legislative deal might be achieved, emphasizing the necessity for strong federal rules and shopper protections as a part of the ultimate framework.
Waters mentioned:
“Mr. Chairman, earlier than the top of this 12 months, I would like us to strike a grand discount on stablecoins and different long-overdue payments. Since 2022, we’ve been working tirelessly to succeed in an settlement and have each made concessions.”
Stablecoin invoice
Waters and Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry, the committee chair, have been collaborating on a invoice to manage stablecoins since 2022, with the purpose of making a strong regulatory basis for the trade.
The committee superior a model of the invoice in 2023, however it has struggled to achieve wider assist attributable to disputes over provisions permitting state regulators to approve stablecoins with out the Federal Reserve’s enter, a measure Waters described as “deeply problematic.”
Waters burdened the significance of stablecoins being backed by safe reserves, reminiscent of short-term Treasury payments, to make sure their stability. She additionally emphasised the necessity for the Fed to take care of a key supervisory position, just like frameworks in different nations.
McHenry expressed hope for progress on stablecoin laws whereas additionally calling for broader regulatory readability round digital property. He mentioned he’s “optimistic” about stablecoin regulation and hopes that it’ll result in “much-needed readability on digital property.”
With the top of the legislative session approaching, Congress should cross vital payments quickly. McHenry additionally famous that his separate crypto market construction invoice, often called FIT21, might acquire momentum earlier than the 12 months concludes.
Commissioners testify
The listening to additionally featured testimony from all 5 US Securities and Trade Fee commissioners, together with Chair Gary Gensler and Commissioner Hester Peirce.
Lawmakers targeted their questions on the company’s dealing with of digital property and broader rulemaking points, with Republicans criticizing the SEC’s “regulation by enforcement method” and questioning whether or not the regulator was able to offering regulatory readability for the trade.
Peirce agreed with the lawmakers’ criticism of the company’s ambiguous method to digital asset regulation and said that the SEC has the instruments to offer clear tips however has failed to take action.
She mentioned:
“We’ve [SEC] taken a legally imprecise view to masks the dearth of regulatory readability… We are able to present tips and select to not.”
Peirce additional emphasised that the SEC’s obscure stance on token classification creates confusion out there. She argued that the company ought to have clarified that the tokens themselves usually are not securities, which might assist information secondary gross sales and platform listings.
Different commissioners echoed Peirce’s considerations, with Mark Uyeda noting that the SEC has a variety of instruments out there to deal with the regulatory gaps, together with defining requirements for token classification and crypto-related exchange-traded merchandise.