Members of the US House of Representatives are circulating a new bill to create a comprehensive regulatory framework for stablecoins in the US.
This bill could change a hundred times more as debate and negotiations continue in Washington over the coming weeks and months.
Negotiations have resumed after stalling shortly before the midterm elections - and the collapse of FTX - last year due to differences between Republicans, Democrats and the Biden administration.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has provided technical advice on this topic and recently launched an investigation into stable coins as securities.
Here's a little bit from the documents:
- The Federal Reserve will be responsible for non-bank stablecoins.
- The US Central Bank will approve and regulate non-bank companies such as Circle and Tether that currently issue or want to issue their own stablecoins in the US.
- Credit unions and banks that want to issue their own stablecoins will be able to do so with the approval of the main financial regulator under which they fall: the National Credit Union Administration, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
- Failure to register is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of $1 million. Any issuer that wishes to do business in the United States, regardless of where its company is located, will be required to register.
- Also, the new bill provides for a two-year ban on stable coins that are not backed by “hard” assets. And the project itself instructs the Ministry of Finance to lead the research on the topic of such stable coins.