The U.S. Senate Will Discuss Stablecoins on February 15
Regulation is a term that is really important to new financial assets like cryptocurrencies. As global crypto adoption continues, countries are finding ways to add clarity to them.
Digital assets, including stablecoins like Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC), have been lately on the radar in US government entities like the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; and the U.S House Committee on Financial Services.
On February 15, the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs scheduled a hearing named “Examining the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets Report on Stablecoins”, according to The Block.
This hearing is happening just one week after the February 8 U.S. House Committee on Financial Services hearing named “Digital Assets and the Future of Finance: The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets’ Report on Stablecoins”.
What Are the Hearings About?
Both hearings surrounding the stablecoins will deep dive on the “President’s Working Group on Financial Markets Releases Report and Recommendations on Stablecoins” that was published on November 1 of 2021 by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
The U.S. Senate has not published yet the witness list for the February 15 hearing. On the other hand, CEOs within the space like Sam Bankman-Fried of FTX and Jeremy Allaire of Circle will be joining as witnesses in the hearing that the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services will host on February 8.
About the Report on Stablecoins
The Report points out some of the risks of stablecoins after being used more every day in trading, lending, or borrowing of other cryptocurrencies through digital asset trading platforms.
Risks like the potential for market destabilization, the concentration of economic power, disruptions in payment systems, and the need to protect consumers by preventing illicit financial behavior are explained in detail in the Report.
Also, the Report includes gaps in the authority of entities to mitigate the risks detailed above. Finally, it recommends that Congress analyze these gaps so stablecoins could be within the federal framework.
There is no doubt stablecoins will be in the eyes of regulators this month. Let’s hope these hearings help the regulatory framework provide clarity to investors.
This article was originally posted on FX Empire
