U.S. Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) argued that a stablecoin bill will not pass before Congress' term expires in January, The Block reported Tuesday, citing the Congressman speaking at the Investing in Digital Enterprises and Assets Summit hosted by CoinDesk. His remarks come even as a number of lawmakers in recent months have worked to form new regulations to oversee the emerging space. In July, for instance, House policymakers Maxine Waters (D., Calif.) and Patrick McHenry (R., N.C.) reportedly neared a bipartisan deal to impose tougher rules on stablecoins in a bid to stave off financial stability risks. Himes said a stablecoin bill probably won't pass in early 2023, while noting "four years ago if you said Bitcoin, crypto and DeFi in the halls of Congress, nobody would have known what you were talking about. The progress that has been made in Congress is pretty remarkable,” as quoted by The Block. Stablecoins are designed to be pegged to the value of a more "stable" asset such as fiat currencies. The two biggest ones by market cap are tether (USDT-USD) ($68.45B value) and USD Coin (USDC-USD) ($44.68B value), both of which are tied to the value of the U.S. dollar. In June, New York's financial watchdog lays out its first stablecoin guidance. Dear readers: We recognize that politics often intersects with the financial news of the day, so we invite you to click here to click here to join the separate political discussion.
