The White House has published a statement on key regulatory and supervisory issues relevant to stablecoins. According to the document, stablecoin arrangements"must comply" with applicable US legal, regulatory, and oversight requirements.
Subscribe to our Telegram channel to stay up to date on the latest crypto and blockchain news.
The recommendations are in line with a recent proposal by the Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to strengthen regulation of cryptocurrency unhosted wallets. The President’s working group also noted that stablecoin providers "must meet" all applicable anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) and sanctions obligations "before bringing products to market."
"This includes requirements that both public and private sectors conduct adequate risk assessments to understand the risks posed by digital assets," the document says.
It remains unclear how the guidelines should apply to stablecoins that are not backed by fiat currencies, such as algorithmic stable cryptocurrencies and coins backed by other cryptocurrencies
Previously in December, US legislators introduced a bill in the Congress that if passed will require stablecoins issuers to receive bank charters before they can issue the assets. In particular, US representatives Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Jesús "Chuy" García (D-Ill.) and Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) introduced the Stablecoin Tethering and Bank Licensing Enforcement (STABLE) Act, which focuses mainly on regulating stablecoins like Facebook's Libra.
The bill, which has 18 pages in total, stipulates stablecoins issuers must receive a bank charter, approval from the Federal Reserve, approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as well as from the bank regulator in order to issue stablecoins.
Access more than 50 of the world's financial markets directly from your EXANTE account – including NASDAQ, London Stock Exchange and Tokyo Stock Exchange.