Congresswoman Maxine Waters is urging lawmakers to back a stablecoin regulation bill developed in a previous congressional session.
She believes this earlier proposal, created with former House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry, is a stronger foundation for stablecoin oversight than new legislation introduced in the 119th Congress.
In a statement on February 10, Waters emphasized that the bill resulted from “three years’ worth of work to craft bipartisan stablecoins legislation”.
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The proposal aims to prevent companies from bypassing US regulations by operating overseas and to block certain convicted fraudsters from holding leadership roles in stablecoin firms.
Her comments come just days after Republican lawmakers, including Financial Services Committee Chair French Hill and Subcommittee Chair Bryan Steil, introduced their own stablecoin bill. Their discussion draft, the Stablecoin Transparency and Accountability for a Better Ledger Economy (STABLE) Act, seeks bipartisan support, though Waters suggested Democrats were not involved in drafting it.
Both bills emerged ahead of a digital assets subcommittee hearing focused on shaping crypto regulation, including stablecoin oversight. The STABLE Act builds on a 2023 proposal, the Clarity for Payment Stablecoin Act, by giving the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency more authority to regulate nonbank stablecoin issuers.
Waters highlighted the importance of cooperation, stating:
Chair Hill extended a hand of bipartisanship to work on stablecoins legislation. I firmly believe that the legislation that I’ve unveiled today provides the best foundation for moving forward and getting urgently needed stablecoins legislation signed into law.
Meanwhile, Senator Bill Hagerty recently proposed a bill called the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act. What is it? Read the full story.
