As crypto fan Donald Trump prepares to take the reins of the government, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has pitched new regulations that would have a significant impact on stablecoin issuers and wallet providers, though the proposal’s future remains in question.

The CFPB took the first procedural step to open a proposal to public comment on Friday that would set up a framework to apply the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to virtual wallets and stablecoins – the digital tokens tied to the value of a steady asset, commonly the U.S. dollar. While that has heavy implications to the way U.S. stablecoin firms and crypto wallet providers would do business, it’s at a preliminary stage with Trump about to arrive at the White House with the power to appoint a new CFPB chief.

Unlike other agency heads, such as those at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, CFPB Director Rohit Chopra appears unlikely to step down voluntarily. Since the agency’s creation after the 2008 global financial meltdown, its leaders have often occupied a more aggressive posture than other regulators, and Republican lawmakers have actively sought to weaken the CFPB’s powers.

In 2020, the Supreme Court confirmed the president can fire and replace the director at will – a power Trump is expected to exercise.

This last-minute regulatory effort would have to survive the arrival of a Trump-appointed leader before it could be finalized and put into effect. Even if this were a final rule, the Republican-led Congress would have a chance to erase it with its Congressional Review Act authority.

Were it to survive, the regulation as proposed – and now opened for a public comment period – looks at stablecoins as a payment mechanism. The existing law’s reference to “funds” should include stablecoins, the proposal suggests, and it could arguably

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Author: Jesse Hamilton