After more than a decade of conflicting guidance at the federal level, Congress is finally on the verge of passing legislation to provide clear guidelines for payment stablecoins. Indeed, in early May, Senate Majority Leader Thune moved to expedite the Senate’s stablecoin bill and bring it to a floor vote before Memorial Day. These rules have the potential to unlock a more inclusive, modern, and efficient financial system for American families, workers, and business. But we can achieve this future only by ensuring a fair and level playing field that protects consumers—and the U.S. economy—from bad actors who would exploit our markets.
Stablecoins are commonly referred to as digital dollars because, unlike more volatile cryptocurrencies, stablecoins behave like currency, not equity. Responsible stablecoin issuers maintain high-quality, liquid reserves – typically U.S. Treasury assets – to ensure one-for-one redeemability with the U.S. dollar.
Businesses and consumers are increasingly turning to stablecoins because they are faster, cheaper, and safer than other forms of money movement. That is a credit to the transparent, traceable, and secure blockchain technology it is built on. In conjunction with strong banking partners, stablecoins offer a generational opportunity to upgrade our decades-old financial infrastructure for today's always-on economy.
Such an upgrade depends on establishing an architecture of trust. Thankfully, Congress is advancing legislation, the Senate's GENIUS Act and House's STABLE Act, that do that well, with layers of oversight and enforcement at the federal and state levels to ensure stablecoins operate with appropriate guardrails, backstops, and consumer protections. Both bills have advanced through committee on a bipartisan basis.
While other financial hubs in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region have already moved ahead with regulatory regimes for stablecoins, Congress is working quickly to deliver a win and restore American leadership in this sector with a framework that allows for dollar dominance along with financial safety.
As demand for stablecoins rises, so, too, does demand for Treasuries. This is a good thing, as it helps secure the U.S. dollar as the bedrock of the global economy and lowers interest rates. And with the recent spike in Treasury yields, it’s not something we should take for granted. As every aspect of commerce undergoes a technology-driven transformation, we want the dollar to be the native currency of the 21st Century digital financial system. Establishing a regulatory regime for stablecoins that supports American rules and values, not the interests of foreign adversaries, will help achieve this goal.
As our organization recently expressed in a letter to the White House, which has been supportive of stablecoin oversight, there is no industry in which unregulated foreign products compete on the same shelf space as regulated American products. Yet, these foreign issuers are selling a product into the American market without adequate protections for American businesses and families. Moreover, they are exporting generated value—both in jobs and capital—out of the United States. This poses economic and national security risks, and runs counter to an America First policy for economic growth and consumer choice.
That's why stablecoin legislation must hold all stablecoin issuers operating in the United States to the same standards—regardless of where they are based—by bringing them under the jurisdiction of our financial regulatory bodies, law enforcement agencies, and courts under a fair and common-sense regulatory regime. It is critical that the version of stablecoin legislation that advances to President Trump’s desk provides the appropriate enforcement mechanisms to safeguard American consumers.
The Senate is expected to begin debate on the GENIUS Act as soon as this week. The final version of stablecoin legislation that Congress sends to President Trump's desk should have clear compliance requirements for all issuers. That means licensing in the U.S., having a legal presence in the U.S., making reserves available for independent audit, disclosing reserves regularly, and following other common-sense measures that foreign issuers have never had to grapple with in the U.S. It's time for all stablecoin issuers to adhere to forthcoming U.S. laws if they are going to keep operating in America, buying up Treasuries and profiting from selling the dollar to the world.
Stablecoins are poised for even greater growth and influence in the U.S. and across the world. To facilitate that growth, Congress must focus its efforts on keeping bad actors out of our markets, protecting American economic and national security interests, and building an economy that works better for families, workers, small business, and future generations.
