US Policymakers Are Still Evaluating Stablecoins
Nikhilesh De Nikhilesh De is CoinDesks managing editor for global policy and regulation. He owns marginal amounts of bitcoin and ether. Follow @nikhileshde on Twitter We are rapidly approaching the end of 2021 but policymakers are not letting up in terms of their approach to crypto. Last weeks letter to stablecoin issuers is yet another step in this ongoing story.When stablecoin rules?The narrative Last week, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) sent letters to a handful of stablecoin issuers asking for more information about their issuances, governance, consumer protection policies and more. Its the latest move in an escalating effort by lawmakers, particularly the Senate Banking Committee chairman, to understand and evaluate stablecoins.Why it matters Lawmakers are grappling with stablecoins worldwide, but were starting to see movement from just asking questions to the beginnings of actual policy proposals and potential laws. In that light, the questions Brown is asking stablecoin issuers could identify what issues might fall into the explicitly defined regulatory landscape.Breaking it down Brown sent letters to Circle, Coinbase, Gemini, Paxos, TrustToken, Binance.US, the Centre Consortium (which Coinbase and Circle jointly operate) and Tether, asking for information about the respective stablecoins they issue. Roughly summarized, the questions ask: How customers can acquire the stablecoins; How customers can redeem