House committee ranking member says a stablecoin bill could be coming soon
Representative Maxine Waters, ranking member of the United States House Financial Services Committee, has suggested that lawmakers are making progress on passing stablecoin legislation.
In an April 24 interview with Bloomberg, Representative Waters said she had been working “very well together” with committee chair Patrick McHenry in legislation on stablecoins and clawbacks for banks and talking to lawmakers in the U.S. Senate. According to the ranking members, only a “few more tweaks” were necessary for the stablecoin bill to move forward in the House.
“It’s been very complicated,” said Representative Waters. “We have so many entities that are involved […] everybody has had something to say. We’ve had to recognize all of those concerns. In doing that, in the final analysis, it’s about making sure that investors and that the people are protected and that we don’t have a stablecoin bill where […] companies don’t have the assets that they say that they have.”
She added:
“We’re talking with the Senate side. We’ve met with Schumer. Talked with Sherrod Brown. We’re on our way to getting a stablecoin bill in the short run.”
Senator Brown, who chairs the Senate Banking Committee, reportedly said in April he was open to passing stablecoin legislation, provided his concerns were addressed. Lawmakers in the House and Senate have proposed different legislative paths to regulate stablecoins, but any bill would need to pass through both chambers before being signed into law.
Related: Crypto advocacy group claims stablecoin bill would ‘violate free speech rights’
Representative Waters suggested in February that lawmakers were “very close” to a deal on stablecoins. On April 17, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Cynthia Lummis introduced a payment stablecoin bill they had been teasing for months. It’s unclear how the bill could divide support in the Senate from the efforts Representative Waters described.
In July 2023, lawmakers in the House Financial Services Committee passed the Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act, setting the stage for a full floor vote. The legislation has not moved forward since then.
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