Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act of 2023
Latest action. Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 408.
Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act of 2023
This bill establishes a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins (digital assets which an issuer must redeem for a fixed monetary value).
Only permitted issuers are allowed to issue a payment stablecoin for use by U.S. persons. Permitted issuers must be a subsidiary of an insured depository institution, a federal-qualified nonbank payment stablecoin issuer, or a state-qualified payment stablecoin issuer. In general, permitted issuers must be regulated by the appropriate federal regulator, however, state-qualified issuers must be regulated by an appropriate state regulator.
Permitted issuers must maintain reserves backing the stablecoin on a one-to-one basis using assets as outlined by the bill, such as U.S. coins and currency or other assets regulators determine appropriate. Permitted issuers must also publicly disclose their redemption policy, establish redemption procedures, and publish on their website every month the details of the issuer's reserves.
The bill sets forth requirements for (1) the rehypothecation, or reusing, of such reserves; (2) providing custodial or safekeeping services for stablecoins or private keys; and (3) supervisory, examination, and enforcement authority over non-state qualified issuers.
In addition, the bill places a two-year moratorium on new endogenously collateralized stablecoins (i.e., stablecoins that rely on the value of another digital asset created or maintained by the same originator to maintain the fixed price).
Under the bill, permitted payment stablecoins are not considered securities under securities law.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on July 20, 2023. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on May 7, 2024: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 408.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Patrick McHenry (R-NC) introduced it on July 20, 2023, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Democrat.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on July 20, 2023, 1148 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 856 days ago, on May 7, 2024.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 118th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2025 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers