Stablecoin Policy's Web Is Full Of Characters
There has been a web of intrigue playing out in the stablecoin policy sphere. The Senate Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act is back on track. Debate will continue when Congress returns from recess next week, and a vote is likely to follow posthaste.
Just as the policy process has been dramatic, the stablecoin advocacy ecosystem has been full of theatrics. Agencies, banks, crypto companies, public institutions are among the cast of characters in the stablecoin mesh.
A stablecoin, a digital dollar, is an instrument whose time has come. Previous proposals were far less innovative. For decades, plans to leverage the post office to provide access to bank services to the underserved floated across progressive circles in Washington. More recently, the 2023 launch of FedNow, an instant payments system built by the Federal Reserve, did not live up to expectations.
The urgency to fill this gap has been mounting for a long time. Perhaps it was the obstacles the federal government faced as they tried to deliver stimulus checks to the most vulnerable during COVID that solidified stablecoins as a viable solution.
Stablecoins do not represent a total disruption. The revenue model is essentially the same as traditional financial institutions. Companies invest their reserves and subsequently profit from the gains.
Is that synergy a good thing? It depends on who you ask. The legacy banking system is entrenched and tensions are high in some corners.
Independent Community Bankers of America President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said this in a statement before the latest GENIUS Act vote.
"ICBA urges the Senate to ensure the GENIUS Act provides regulatory clarity while including necessary guardrails to protect against the negative economic consequences that would result from community bank disintermediation. ICBA reiterates our concerns outlined for the Congress since the beginning of this debate. With community banks using deposits to make 60% of the nation's small-business loans and 80% of banking industry agricultural lending, mitigating the risk of retail deposits migrating out of community banks — which have proven commitments to their communities and local credit creation — is critical.'
Big banks, however, want a piece of the pie. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citi, Wells Fargo, and others are exploring the possibility of creating a unified stablecoin according to news reports.
There's also web spinning in the crypto native industry.
After rumors spread recently that Coinbase and Ripple were vying to acquire Circle, the largest stablecoin company in the United States just squashed speculation by announcing their IPO will go live next week on June 4.
Oversight of this messy web will rest in the purview of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
'I'm also focused on expanding responsible bank activities involving digital assets to support the 50 million Americans who now hold some form of cryptocurrency. Regulated banks must keep up with this transformation,' Acting Comptroller Rodney E. Hood recently said in a speech this month.
New OCC guidance states that 'crypto-asset custody, certain stablecoin activities, and participation in independent node verification networks such as distributed ledger are permissible for national banks and federal savings associations.'
The stage is set for centralized and decentralized finance to fuel the sector. But will frictions fester? The stablecoin policy web is just commencing and will likely get more complex after legislation is signed into law.
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