The U.S. Senate’s Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee is holding a hearing today that will focus on stablecoins and, most likely, the broader cryptocurrency space. This session was organized by Senator Sherrod (D-OH), the chairman of the banking committee.

Sen. Brown’s hearing – Stablecoins: How do they work, how are they used, and what are their risks? – will be streamed on the senate’s website beginning at 10 am ET. This comes just a week after the House Committee on Financial Services hosted its own cryptocurrency hearing.

Although the nearly 5 hour marathon meeting was collaborative and productive in the lower chamber of Congress, many experts predict that the Senate hearing will prove to be even more difficult. Jaret S. Seiberg from Cowen Washington Research Group, Managing Director and Financial analyst, told Yahoo! interviewers that there will be fireworks in the Senate chambers. Finance LIVE: There will be fireworks inside the Senate chambers. (NASDAQ -) Finance LIVE

“It’s going to be a lot more contentious. The House hearing had a lot of witnesses. There were a lot of members – it went on for five hours. Senate Banking will be more succinct. Two crypto critics are testifying. And I expect a lot of punches to be thrown.”
Seiberg further explained that it will ultimately be the Senate that will dictate the timing, type, and tone of crypto legislation that could be passed – It is notThe House of Representatives

“The House can pass as many crypto-related bills as it wants, but if Sherrod Brown doesn’t become a champion of crypto legislation, it’s simply not going to become law. And this is our best indicator that we’ve had in the last 12 months as to what he’s going to do.”
As of this writing, there are currently two confirmed witnesses who will testify before Sen. Brown’s Committee, both of whom are vocal crypto critics:

• American University Washington College of Law Professor Hilary J. Allen
• Alexis Goldstein is the Director of Financial Policy for Open Markets Institute

While stablecoins will be the focus of today’s meeting, stablecoins were originally tackled this midsummer by the President’s Working Group (PWG). However, after three months of decisive inaction, the PWG report didn’t provide any new insights. The PWG report reiterated past comments about stablecoins’ potential utility to consumers. However, that utility must be managed under legislative and regulatory guidance. This is a good recommendation, however the PWG recommended that stablecoins be handed over to Congress so they can work out the details. In less than seven days time, there were two hearings before the Banking Committee. It seems that Congress policymakers have been very active in crypto-related matters, but are not as effective.

Flipside

• Retail investors will suffer if lawmakers fail to take decisive action on cryptos and stablecoins. If blockchain technology is slowing down or stopped by regulation or inaction, we stand to suffer the most.
• Moderation and balance are two of the most important crypto keys that policymakers should use to unlock the full potential of the technology.

What are the reasons to care?

Blockchain was designed to be accessible to everyone. You might contact your representatives to let them know where you stand on crypto, stablecoins and blockchain.

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