The United States Federal Reserve Board sees payment stablecoins as a form of money, Chair Jerome Powell said during questioning at the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee’s semi-annual hearing on Fed policy on June 21.
Powell’s comments came in response to committee ranking member Maxine Waters, who asked for his reaction to the proposed stablecoin bill, which originated with the Republicans and would be the first crypto legislation in the U.S. if passed.
Waters told Powell that the bill would create “58 different licenses with federal regulatory approval over only two of the licenses.” The remaining licenses would be issued by states, territories and other jurisdictions, which “takes state preemption to a whole new level,” she said. Powell responded:
“We do see payment stablecoins as a form of money, […] and we believe that it would be appropriate to have quite a robust federal role in what happens in stablecoin going forward.”
“Allowing a lot of private money creation at the state level would be a mistake,” he added.
By providing commentary on the draft bill, Powell took a position that runs contrary to that of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler. Gensler spoke at a Senate Banking Committee hearing last year and said that stablecoins may require registration and regulation and has repeatedly stated that all cryptocurrencies except Bitcoin (BTC) are securities.
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Author: Derek Andersen