Last week some pretty big news came out in DC regarding crypto legislation. Many of you who have read my articles know the House Financial Services Committee has been approving legislation out of the Committee to send to the House for a full vote. Of the many bills that have been sent to the House floor for a vote one that came close last Congress (2 years ago) was stablecoin legislation.
To give a little background 2 years ago there was a bipartisan agreement for Stablecoin legislation. What exactly it entailed is not exactly clear but it was relatively hands-off and really focused on Tether and Circle proving they have the USD to back up the USDT or USDC they issue. It did not add a bunch of regulations or give new agencies or departments any sort of crypto power. Well, when the Chairwoman at the time Maxine Waters showed this to Secretary of Treasury Yellen, a step that is NOT required and does NOT have to happen, Sec. Yellen raised numerous concerns sinking the entire thing.
This Congress, the 118th, current Chairman McHenry has made crypto regulation a key issue and is something he is looking to finalize and pass this year before he retires. He has had a ton of bipartisan support in the Committee for numerous pieces of legislation including the Stablecoin legislation however, Chairman McHenry has made it known that he wants the Ranking Member, Maxine Waters, to come into the fold as well. Contrary to the reports though there really is not a stablecoin agreement in place.
Peeling back the layers and just knowing the "beltway" lingo the agreement that they have reached is agreeing to everything except the parts that sank the last attempt. Now they do have something, whatever that something is has not come out, but they want the Biden Admin and the Senate to sign off before they push to move it. It is hard to state how big of a deal this is because if the Senate agrees and the Admin fails to it will blow up on the Admin. If the Senate doesn't agree then it will blow up on them since they have not tried to pass ANY crypto legislation no matter what it looks like.
In a time where the House of Reps is seen as dysfunctional, this is a silent move that could blow up publically and make the House seem not as bad. It is something that honestly is wild to think about but also just as possible. The next key date seems to be March 6th which is when the House Financial Services Committee will have Fed Chair Powell to testify before them. Until there it will be interesting to see how all of this plays out behind the scenes and in public.