Crypto-Skeptic Sen. Sherrod Brown Is Open to Advancing Stablecoin Legislation, Bloomberg Reports

Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), a crypto-skeptic who runs the influential Senate Banking Committee, is open to advancing long-sought legislation for stablecoins, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing an interview with him.

Brown, according to Bloomberg, said that his concerns would have to be addressed before he would fully get behind a stablecoin law, however.

Congress has for years struggled to get any new laws passed for cryptocurrencies, providing greater clarity sought by both critics and proponents of digital assets. Stablecoin legislation may, nonetheless, be the lowest-hanging fruit given that stablecoins strongly resemble other regulated products like money-market funds, and there’s a strong incentive to create guardrails since they own important conventional assets like U.S. Treasuries.

Brown’s reportedly tentative support to advance legislation could be an important sign progress can be achieved. His Democratic Party controls the U.S. Senate and thus sets legislative priorities. Over in the Republican-controlled House, soon-to-retire Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) recently said he remains optimistic the U.S. can get a new stablecoin law this year.