New Stablecoin Bill Introduced in US Senate to Regulate Dollar-Pegged Digital Assets

Senators Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand have proposed a new bill that aims to establish definitions for dollar-pegged digital assets and their issuers. The bill mandates that payment stablecoin issuers meet reserve and operational requirements, including creating subsidiaries specifically for issuing stablecoins. Additionally, stablecoin issuers must deal in dollar-backed tokens and ensure their tokens are fully backed by reserve assets. The proposed legislation seeks to define how stablecoins will operate in the US and would prohibit algorithmic stablecoins. There are ongoing discussions about attaching stablecoin legislation to a must-pass bill reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration, and Senator Sherrod Brown has indicated that specific safeguards must be included for the legislation to move forward.