USDC issuer Circle‘s CEO Jeremy Allaire thinks that there’s a ‘very good chance’ that the US passes stablecoin laws this year.
The CEO of Circle, the Fintech firm behind the widely-used stablecoin USDC, is seeing a good chance that laws for stablecoin issuers such as itself will come through this year.
Stablecoins, which enable crypto traders to move in and out of the volatile digital currency markets, are a $135.3 billion market (at the time of writing). However, they are for the most part unregulated or loosely regulated.
The United States has not introduced a federal crypto regulatory framework, even as other jurisdictions are approving new crypto-related legal frameworks.
However, Jeremy Allaire, Circle’s co-founder, is now hopeful that all this could change in 2024, noting that there is a “very good chance” American lawmakers will greenlight a new stablecoin bill.
In statements shared with CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Allaire stated that regulatory developments around the crypto sector are gaining momentum, and that the U.S. was likely to approve laws for stablecoins.
He stated:
“I think what you’re seeing is a desire from the administration, a desire from the Treasury, from the [Federal Reserve], by both chambers of Congress, and certainly on a bipartisan basis. Digital dollars are happening around the world, other governments are regulating dollar-digital currencies before the United States. And so I think there is a very strong desire to act and assert U.S. leadership and get the right consumer protections involved.”
Allaire was also questioned about the Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act, which aims to bring stablecoins within the same regulatory guidelines that are applied to traditional financial services firms.
The act was passed by the House Financial Services Committee in 2023, and it has made its way to the floor of the House of Representatives for review. It has not been approved by lawmakers in the House as of now.
Circle has filed its confidential S-1 registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), confirming the firm’s plans to list publicly.
Circle has not shared details regarding the exact timing of its IPO, which was revealed the week that the SEC approved the first US spot bitcoin ETFs.
Allaire was also questioned regarding if the timing of Circle’s listing was a reaction in some ways to the SEC’s ETF approval. However, Claire stated that he could not comment on the issue because of regulatory reasons.
Allaire also shared:
“Stablecoins in particular remain the killer app for blockchain technology. We’re starting to see widening usage all around the world. It’s been a really powerful time for that and we think 2024, with things like the spot ETF and world regulatory clarity, is going to open this up even wider.”
