Sponsors (18)
Introduced March 26, 2025 by Bryan Steil · Last progress March 26, 2025
The bill creates a comprehensive federal framework that prioritizes consumer protection, systemic‑risk oversight, and legal clarity for payment stablecoins—but does so by imposing substantial compliance, reporting, and supervisory requirements that will raise costs, slow certain innovation, advantage established incumbents, and shift some authority from states to federal regulators.
Middle-class families, small businesses, and other stablecoin holders gain stronger protections because permitted payment stablecoins must be backed 1:1 with high‑quality liquid assets, publish monthly reserve and supply reports, undergo independent audits, and follow AML/BSA controls.
Banks, payment firms, and nonbank applicants get much clearer federal legal and supervisory rules (who may issue, which regulator oversees them, that payment stablecoins are not securities, and timelines for decisions), reducing legal uncertainty for firms working with stablecoins.
Consumers and users of custodial services gain stronger property rights and priority in insolvency because customers' coins, keys, cash and other property must be segregated and holders get priority over other creditors for reserves.
Many consumers and businesses face higher costs because extensive compliance, audit, reporting, capital, and penalty regimes for permitted issuers and custodians will raise operating costs that are likely passed through as higher fees or reduced yields.
Entrepreneurs, crypto‑native firms, and new entrants may be blocked or priced out—by the two‑year pause on endogenous models, limits to permitted issuers, high penalties, and requirements that favor established banks—risking reduced competition and innovation and greater market concentration.
Users lose some investor and deposit‑like protections because payment stablecoins are explicitly excluded from being securities or lawful deposits, leaving holders with fewer traditional legal remedies if issuers fail or commit fraud.
Based on analysis of 15 sections of legislative text.
Establishes a federal licensing, reserve, reporting, custody, and supervision regime limiting payment‑stablecoin issuance to approved issuers and bans new algorithmic stablecoins for two years.
Creates a detailed federal framework for payment stablecoins: only approved issuers may issue dollar‑denominated payment stablecoins in the U.S., issuers must hold 1:1 high‑quality reserves, publish monthly reserve reports with independent audits, and submit to federal supervision. The bill bans new "endogenously collateralized" (algorithmic) stablecoins for two years, requires studies on various stablecoin types and impacts, clarifies that permitted payment stablecoins are not securities under several federal securities laws, and sets custody rules and enforcement tools including civil and criminal penalties. It also provides a process for applications, state-federal coordination, and a foreign comparability exception for regulated overseas issuers.