The House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) failed to reach an agreement for stablecoin legislation on Thursday due to a number of disagreements Democrats had with its existing text.
Committee Chair Patrick McHenry (R-NC) blamed the White House for holding up the bill, while Democrats alleged that Republicans were attempting to rush incomplete legislation.
No Compromise For Stablecoin Bill
The bill, titled the Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act of 2023, would allow the Federal Reserve to write requirements for stablecoin issuers, but still preserve the authority of state-level payment stablecoin regulators while outlining other requirements.
After 15 months of negotiations, McHenry claimed the committee was “closer than we’d ever been” to a bipartisan deal aside from a few “small provisions.”
“It was the White House’s unwillingness to compromise that has once again brought negotiations to a halt,” he said. He did not specify which elements of the bill the Biden administration had objected to.
The agency’s ranking member, Maxine Waters (D-CA), blamed McHenry’s “impatience” for pushing forward a “deeply flawed” bill, which she said lacked support from both the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve. Previously, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell has emphasized that the central bank ought to have a role within the industry as the ultimate source of credibility on money.
Waters claimed the bill would give states too much authority to expand the number of eligible reserve assets for backing stablecoins, creating risks for token holders. Furthermore, she said it would allow tech giants to issue their own stablecoins – a threat reminiscent of Facebook’s now-defunct stablecoin project, Diem.
Go to Source to See Full Article
Author: Andrew Throuvalas