US House committee releases new stablecoin bill draft

The United States House Financial Services Committee has released the third draft of the stablecoin bill presented by its chair, Representative Patrick McHenry. The latest draft of the bill is bipartisan and includes specific proposals from Republican and Democratic committee members. 

The draft bill titled, The Future of Digital Assets: Providing Clarity for the Digital Asset Ecosystem, was first proposed on June 8 and is expected to be discussed during the upcoming committee hearing on June 13.

The bill’s latest version proposes the U.S. Federal Reserve as the key regulator tasked with formulating requirements for issuing stablecoins. However, at the same time, the bill aims to offer state regulators powers to oversee the companies issuing the tokens.

The bill further discusses legislation regarding who can issue stablecoins and the requirements of a payment stablecoin. If approved, the bill will be the first comprehensive guidance on the supervision and enforcement of stablecoin markets in the United States. The bill also proposes a two-year moratorium for collateralized stablecoins from the date of enactment.

If approved by the committee and passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, the bill would become the first example of crypto legislation in the United States.

Related: Stablecoins are the solution to crypto’s banking problem, exec says

The latest version also grants some additional authority to the federal regulator compared to the previous version. These powers include the power to intervene against state-regulated issuers in cases of emergency. States would also be entitled to pass their supervision duties to the federal watchdog if necessary.

The previous version of the draft bill, issued on April 24, focused on stablecoin payments rather than overseeing other aspects of digital asset markets, such as custodial service providers and algorithmic stablecoins. The bill’s latest version is more concise and grants specific powers to state legislatures as well.

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