U.S. House Prepares to Debate Stablecoin Regulation Legislation
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. House of Representatives is set to receive the actual text of a pivotal bill aimed at regulating stablecoins, with a debate scheduled for Wednesday. This legislation, championed by key lawmaker Rep. Bryan Steil, who leads the crypto subcommittee within the House Financial Services Committee, is expected to be unveiled before the day’s end. Meanwhile, the Senate has made progress by advancing its own version of stablecoin oversight legislation through the Senate Banking Committee.
Both legislative efforts seek to establish regulatory frameworks for the issuance of digital tokens pegged to stable assets, predominantly the U.S. dollar. Historically, a major point of contention has revolved around the regulatory authority of various state and federal agencies over these issuers.
Rep. Steil indicated that a markup session in the House, which involves committee discussions on amendments and a decision on whether to advance the bill to the House floor, should occur “in the very near future.” He noted that House lawmakers, including Rep. French Hill, the chairman of the full committee, are actively working to “close the gap” with the Senate version of the bill.
The ongoing stablecoin initiative in Congress, which successfully passed the House during the previous session but faced hurdles in the Senate, represents a more focused and potentially more manageable aspect of the broader regulatory landscape for cryptocurrencies. The other significant piece of legislation, which seeks to regulate the operations of digital asset markets in the U.S., presents a more complex challenge. However, Steil expressed optimism, stating that the current Congress is better positioned to tackle this issue.
Steil remarked, “We now have a very different political landscape.” He emphasized the continued support for crypto initiatives within the House of Representatives and highlighted the establishment of “really good working relationships with a number of Democrats,” a sentiment that extends into the Senate as well.
He also mentioned that the market-structure bill is anticipated to receive a House hearing in early April, further indicating the legislative momentum in the crypto space.
The speaker lineup at the Washington event, organized by the Digital Chamber, underscores the growing connection between the crypto industry and lawmakers this year. The event featured appearances from over half a dozen U.S. senators and nearly a dozen members of the House, including several Democrats.
In the early days of this congressional session, significant bipartisan support has emerged for initiatives aimed at addressing an Internal Revenue Service rule that targets decentralized finance (DeFi). Additionally, the Senate Banking Committee has shown strong bipartisan backing in advancing the stablecoin bill, reflecting a collaborative approach to crypto regulation.
