During a House Financial Services Committee hearing on March 11, US Representative Tom Emmer emphasized the need to prioritize legislation supporting stablecoins, while labeling central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as a potential threat to American values.
On March 6, Emmer reintroduced the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act in the House. He reiterated his plea for Congress to pass this legislation during the March 11 hearing. The proposal is designed to prevent any future administrations from initiating a US CBDC without direct congressional approval.
Emmer addresses the House Financial Services Committee during the hearing on CBDCs.
“The technology behind CBDCs is fundamentally un-American,” Emmer stated during the hearing, cautioning that permitting unelected officials to introduce a CBDC “could disrupt the American way of life.”
On January 23, former President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning “the establishment, issuance, circulation, and use” of a CBDC in the United States. Emmer expressed that the reintroduced legislation could “prevent a future administration from establishing such an obvious instrument for financial surveillance against its own citizens” if enacted, citing worries about privacy and financial autonomy.
During the same hearing, Paxos CEO Charles Cascarilla called on lawmakers to establish uniform stablecoin regulations across different jurisdictions to prevent regulatory arbitrage. As a prominent stablecoin issuer, Paxos advocated for clear rules and mutual agreements with global regulators:
“Our goal is to ensure that the same set of regulations applies in the US as internationally so that it’s not possible to issue stablecoins from another jurisdiction without compliance. By having these unified standards that everyone must adhere to in order to access the US market, it will foster a race to the top rather than a race to the bottom.”
Emmer, a Republican from Minnesota, also voiced concerns regarding the privacy risks that CBDCs pose, asserting that stablecoins have the potential to bring traditional finance onto the blockchain globally while maintaining privacy:
“This highlights why we need to prioritize pro-stablecoin legislation along with anti-CBDC measures.”
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