Senior executive from Circle to testify at US Congressional committee hearing

Dante Disparte (centre) speaks onstage in New York City; Image: Roy Rochlin / Getty Images via AFP

Just days after a draft bill for the regulation of stablecoins was listed in the document repository of the House of Representatives, the United States House Committee on Financial Services is going to arrange a hearing on April 19 to discuss the way ahead for stablecoins and a requirement of legislation to support the ecosystem.

The hearing is named "Understanding Stablecoins' Role in Payments and the Need for Legislation." Several federal government agencies are scheduled to present in the US Congressional Committee hearing and present their information regarding the stablecoin space.

In the official memorandum, a list of names was mentioned who was going to testify at the US Congressional committee hearing. The head of policy and chief strategy officer at Circle, Dante Disparte, is included in the list. Other attendees include Adrienne A. Harris, the Superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services, Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia Business School Austin Campbell, the Chief Policy Officer of The Blockchain Association Jake Chervinsky, and Delicia Reynolds Hand, the Director of Financial Fairness and Consumer Reports.

Just a month back, USD Coin, the stablecoin of Circle, was depegged from the US dollar after the Silicon Valley Bank crisis when it was revealed that Circle had over $3 billion worth of funds stuck in the bank. Circle had published a tweet on the same, stating, "Like other customers and depositors who relied on SVB for banking services, Circle joins calls for continuity of this important bank in the US economy and will follow guidance provided by state and Federal regulators."

The US Congressional committee hearing will attend to the future of stablecoins in the country, its use cases, and the need for legislation for the industry. The CEO of Circle, Jeremy Allaire, praised the draft bill for stablecoins, saying that the required regulatory laws for digital currencies were extremely important and the draft bill was a step in the right direction. 

The bill includes several pointers on regulating stablecoins, including bringing issuers of stablecoins under the regulatory purview of the country's federal agencies.

Shashank is the founder of yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist. Twitter: @bhardwajshash