Continue Work on Stablecoin Legislation or Risk Forfeiting the Financial Future

Jack SoloweyThe United States has long led global finance. Its institutions shaped critical financial infrastructure and saw the dollar become the world ’s reserve currency—thanks torule of law, property rights, and an innovative market economy at home. As the economic landscape evolves,maintaining this position is a matter of adapting to new technologies that couldcomplement the U.S. dollar and enhance global financial plumbing. Yet, in a fit of myopia, U.S. regulators seem bent on stifling the very developments thatcould help extend America ’s historic strengths, looking askance at recent attempts to integrate open‐​source software with finance.Yesterday, the House Financial Services Committee ’s Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Inclusion held a hearing on stablecoins (cryptocurrencies pegged to the value of an asset like the dollar). The committee deserves recognition for taking the all ‐​important first step: admitting we have a problem. Nonetheless, although the witnesses largely agreed on the shortsightedness of U.S. hostility to decentralized financial technology and the need for regulatory clarity, comments from lawmakers indicated that a common ‐​sense solution on stablecoins, unfortunately, remains far off.Moreover, a bill posted on the committee ’s website before the hearing—a draft stablecoin framework that first circulated last fall—needs work if it is to rein in the excessive regula...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs