In a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Powell, U.S. lawmakers stated that the Fed’s recent supervisory and regulatory letters (SR 23-7 and SR 23-8) undermined the progress made by Congress in legislating the establishment of a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. It will prevent financial institutions from participating in the digital asset ecosystem.
Representatives Patrick French Hill and Bill Huizeng wrote in the letter: “By issuing these regulatory letters, the Federal Reserve prevents banks from issuing payment stablecoins or participating in the payment stablecoin ecosystem. Providing certainty to market participants, this realization drove the introduction of the Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act (Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act), however, less than two weeks after that, the Federal Reserve issued SR 23-7 and SR 23-8 without working with Congress to create a workable mechanism.”