- A US Senator comes up with a stablecoin regulation bill.
- SEC and CFTC might lose their control over regulatory authority over the crypto sector.
- The Senator has announced his retirement from the Senate.
A Bill For Sensible Crypto Regulations
Senator Pat Toomey is due to end his tenure as a ranking member of the Senate on January 3, 2023. But the retirement is not enough to keep him from actively acting to improve the regulatory aspects of the US government. Recently, he came up with a bill dubbed Stablecoin TRUST Act designed to guide Congress to make sensible cryptocurrency regulations.
This bill is to ensure that the Federal Reserve does not get into a position to make interruptions in this activity. The agency has remained skeptical about the stablecoins for a long time now. On the other hand, Pat Toomey believes in these steady assets.
If this regulation is passed, it would completely eliminate the command of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over stablecoins. Moreover, it will introduce a new federal license for the “payment stablecoin issuers” controlled by the Office of Comptroller of Currency (OCC).
Regulators’ interest in the crypto sector has increased due to their volatility, mass adoption, and more. SEC and CFTC are trying to get a grip over the sector, but have failed. The US monetary watchdog is currently involved in a lawsuit against Ripple Labs, where the Brad Garlinghouse led company is constantly kicking their allegations out of the court. Most of the Ripple community is positive on the company winning the case, but many wonder what will happen if they lose.
According to The New Yorker, Rostin Behnam, chair of CFTC, said that if there was a CFTC regulated market, Bitcoin might trade at double its price now. In the Senate Agriculture Committee, he stated that he was motivated by bipartisan support for a regulatory approach that would pass on the knowledge regarding consumer protection, transparency, oversight and other aspects concerning virtual assets.
Pat Toomey has played a vital role in the Senate to counter money laundering in the US. In 2004, he lost the Senate elections to Arlen Specter and challenged him in 2009 again. Specter eventually switched to democrats, leaving Toomey the front runner for Senator, he won against Peg Luksik that year. He thinks that “Stablecoins can transform money and payments”
Cryptocurrencies are still far from mass adoption but some countries are accepting virtual assets as their legal tender. Currently, Thailand, Nigeria and Philippines hold the majority of crypto users around the globe. El Salvador, a South American nation, announced Bitcoin as the country’s legal tender in 2021.
Virtual asset sector is unpredictable concerning their volatile nature, this is where the stablecoins come to the rescue as they eliminate this factor from the market.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/12/22/pat-toomey-reveals-stablecoin-regulatory-proposal-before-retiring/