Circle CEO: ‘Good Chance’ US Adopts Stablecoin Rules in 2024

Circle’s CEO is confident that 2024 will be the year America adopts stablecoin legislation.

While the U.S. has no federal cryptocurrency legislation, Jeremy Allaire, whose company mints the USD Coin stablecoin, said Monday (Jan. 15) he thinks there is a “very good chance” U.S. lawmakers approve a stablecoin bill this year.

Allaire spoke with CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and said countries around the world were quickly adopting crypto regulations, with the U.S. more likely to approve new stablecoin laws than it has been in the past.

“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,” Allaire said.

“Digital dollars are happening around the world, other governments are regulating dollar-digital currencies before the United States,” he added. “And so I think there is a very strong desire to act and assert U.S. leadership and get the right consumer protections involved.”

As noted here last month, the crypto industry stepped up its lobbying efforts in connection with stablecoin legislation during 2023.

The coins, seen as a bridge between the crypto and traditional financial systems, have drawn interest from the President Joe Biden administration and congressional lawmakers from both sides of the aisle. Proponents argue federal regulation would lend legitimacy to the asset class and lead to wider adoption.

Among the biggest contributors to lobbying efforts was Coinbase, which spent $2 million on crypto lobbying efforts, much of that focused on stablecoins.

Tether, issuer of the largest stablecoin, spent $760,000 on lobbying in the first three quarters of 2023, double the amount spent the prior year, while Circle upped its lobbying spending to $300,000 in the same period, per a report by Bloomberg News.

In addition, traditional financial firms like Bank of America and Visa, along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have also contributed to lobbying efforts.

Allaire’s comments come days after his company resumed its plans to go public, filing paperwork for an initial public offering (IPO) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week.

Circle planned to go public in 2022 via a $9 billion special purpose acquisition company merger, though that deal was postponed while Circle waited for the SEC to OK its S-4 registration document.

“We are disappointed the proposed transaction timed out, however, becoming a public company remains part of Circle’s core strategy to enhance trust and transparency, which has never been more important,” Allaire said at the time.