Yigit Taha OZTURK 
US Representative Tom Emmer argued for prioritizing pro-stablecoin legislation in a March 11 House Financial Services Committee hearing while calling central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) a threat to American values.
CBDC Anti-Surveillance Law Reintroduced
On March 6, Emmer reintroduced the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act in the House of Representatives. At the March 11 hearing, Emmer renewed his call for Congress to pass the legislation. The bill aims to prevent future administrations from launching a US CBDC without explicit Congressional approval.
Emmer stated that CBDC technology is inherently “un-American”, warning that allowing unelected bureaucrats to issue a CBDC “could upend the American way of life.”
On January 23, Donald Trump signed an executive order prohibiting “the establishment, issuance, circulation, and use” of a CBDC in America. Emmer said that his reintroduced legislation could “prevent a future administration from creating such an obvious tool for financial surveillance against its own citizens” if signed into law, citing concerns about privacy and financial independence.
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Paxos CEO Calls for Stablecoin Regulations
At the same hearing, Paxos CEO Charles Cascarilla urged lawmakers to create consistent stablecoin regulations across jurisdictions to avoid regulatory arbitrage. Paxos, a major stablecoin issuer, recommended clear guidelines and reciprocal rules with global regulators:
“We want to make sure we have the same set of rules in the US as we have around the world so that there isn’t some arbitrage that is possible to issue from another jurisdiction. And by having that same set of rules that everyone has to meet in order to access the US market, it will actually create a race to the top, not a race to the bottom.”
Emmer, a Minnesota Republican, also criticized CBDCs for their inherent privacy risks, stating that stablecoins could bring traditional finance on-chain at a global scale while preserving privacy:
“This underscores why we must prioritize pro-stablecoin legislation alongside anti-CBDC legislation.”
Crypto Companies’ Political Influence Grows
Amid rapid pro-crypto developments, a report by the Center for Political Accountability (CPA) raised concerns about the increasing political influence of crypto companies in America and potential risks to regulatory stability.
According to the March 7 report, cryptocurrency firms spent a cumulative $134 million on the 2024 US elections in “unchecked political spending,” raising concerns about transparency and regulatory capture.
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