Good morning and happy Friday. This week, we cover four new bills, two Senate floor votes, and two hearings.
Top Points
Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI) officially introduced the STABLE Act with 11 cosponsors, including three Democrats.
House Republican Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) and Rep. Darren Soto (D-FL) introduced the Securities Clarity Act.
Reps. Zach Nunn (R-IA) and Jim Himes (D-CT) introduced the Financial Technology Protection Act.
The Senate passed a resolution to repeal the IRS’s DeFi broker rule.
The House Agriculture Committee held a hearing on the CFTC.
The Senate Banking Committee questioned President Trump’s picks to lead the SEC and OCC.
The FDIC is joining the OCC in removing “reputational risk” from bank examination materials.
Legislation
House STABLE Act: On Wednesday, Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI) officially introduced the “Stablecoin Transparency and Accountability for a Better Ledger Economy Act of 2025” or “STABLE Act” along with 11 cosponsors.
Text.
Cosponsors: Reps. French Hill (R-AR), Ritchie Torres (D-NY), Tom Emmer (R-MN), Bill Huizenga (R-MI), Dan Meuser (R-PA), Young Kim (R-CA), Tim Moore (R-NC), Troy Downing (R-MT), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Mike Haridopolos (R-FL), and Sam Liccardo (D-CA)
Detailed summary in Pro Newsletter along with comparisons to GENIUS.
Securities Clarity Act: Reps. Tom Emmer (R-MN) and Darren Soto (D-FL) introduced the Securities Clarity Act, a bill to clarify that a crypto asset sold as part of an investment contract is not necessarily itself a security.
Today, @RepDarrenSoto and I reintroduced the bipartisan Securities Clarity Act to codify, once and for all, that, like the orange groves in SEC v. W. J. Howey Co., a digital asset is separate and distinct from an investment contract through which it may be offered.
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Financial Technology Protection Act: Reps. Zach Nunn (R-IA) and Jim Himes (D-CT) introduced the Financial Technology Protection Act. The bill would establish a working group tasked with (i) researching the illicit use of emerging financial technologies and (ii) developing policy proposals to improve AML and CFT efforts in the U.S.
Pro-Blockchain Resolution: Reps. Gabe Amo (D-RI) and Young Kim (R-CA) introduced a resolution urging federal agencies to explore and support ways blockchain technology can strengthen democracy, transparency, and human rights.
Votes
DeFi Broker Rule Repeal: On Wednesday, the Senate voted 70-28 to pass H.J. Res. 25, a Congressional Review Act resolution to repeal the IRS’s DeFi Broker Rule, sending the bill to President Trump. Roll Call. Full summary in Pro Newsletter.
OSTP Head Confirmation: The Senate confirmed Michael Kratsios to head the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy by a 74-25 vote.
Hearings
Senate Banking Noms: The Senate Banking Committee held a nomination hearing, including President Trump’s picks to head the SEC (Paul Atkins) and OCC (Jonathan Gould). Senators questioned witnesses on debanking, promoting innovation, SBF’s parents, and the Consolidated Audit Trail. Full summary in Pro Newsletter.
House Ag Hearing: The House Agriculture Committee held a hearing on the CFTC’s track record of overseeing commodity futures markets, which included discussion of market structure, self-regulatory organizations, and cybersecurity. Full summary in Pro Newsletter.
Letters
Senator Cruz - Crypto in 401(k) Plans: Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) sent a letter asking GAO to review whether Department of Labor guidance issued under the Biden Administration is a rule under the Congressional Review Act.
In 2022, the Biden Department of Labor issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01 to target crypto and restrict investment choices 401(k) plans—bypassing congressional oversight in the process.
Today, I asked the GAO to determine whether this guidance qualifies as a rule
Today, I asked the GAO to determine whether this guidance qualifies as a rule
Protecting Non-Custodial Software Developers: On Wednesday, the DeFi Education Fund led a broad industry coalition in a letter urging Congress to correct the DoJ’s “overly expansive” interpretation of an “unlicensed money transmitting business” so it does not expose non-custodial software developers to potential criminal liability.
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Administration
Debanking: The FDIC will no longer use “reputational risk” as a component of bank supervision.
Big win for crypto: @FDICgov is following @USOCC's lead in removing “reputational risk” as a factor in bank supervision. “Reputational risk” may sound good in theory, but it was defined as “the potential that negative publicity regarding an institution’s business practices,
NEWS: The @FDICgov is going to eliminate the use of reputational risk as a component of bank supervision.
This follows the Committee’s passage of @SenatorTimScott’s FIRM Act, which would codify the elimination of reputational risk across all federal banking regulators.
NEWS: The @FDICgov is going to eliminate the use of reputational risk as a component of bank supervision.This follows the Committee’s passage of @SenatorTimScott’s FIRM Act, which would codify the elimination of reputational risk across all federal banking regulators.
Hester Peirce Remarks: In remarks to The Digital Chamber’s DC Blockchain Summit, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce shared her personal thoughts on market structure, including strong support for protecting peer-to-peer transactions and decentralization.
Tornado Cash Delisting: Last Friday, Treasury delisted the Tornado Cash website and a series of related Ethereum addresses, but it remains unclear to what extent Treasury will keep Tornado Cash delisted. More background on the ongoing Tornado Cash case in The Rage here.
Look Ahead
The House and Senate are in session.
Hearings Next Week
Tuesday
10AM - Illicit Finance Hearing: HFS subcommittee hearing on “Following the Money: Tools and Techniques to Combat Fraud.”
10AM - AI & Data Centers Hearing: House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on “America’s AI Moonshot: The Economics of AI, Data Centers, and Power Consumption.”
Wednesday
10AM - Stablecoin Markup: The House Financial Services Committee is expected to markup the STABLE Act.
DC Events
SEC Roundtables: The SEC announced four new roundtables, including one on April 11 from 1PM-5pm entitled: “Between a Block and a Hard Place: Tailoring Regulation for Crypto Trading Intermediaries.”
Quick Hits
Stablecoins Make Headlines
Trump-Backed Stablecoin: “Trump-Backed World Liberty Financial Confirms Dollar Stablecoin Plans With BitGo” (CoinDesk).
Tokenized Dollar Deposits: “Custodia and Vantage Bank partner for ‘first bank-issued stablecoin’” (Cointelegraph).
Fidelity Tests Stablecoin: “Fidelity Testing Its Own Stablecoin as Firm Expands Crypto Efforts” (Decrypt).
Creator Economy: “Rumble’s crypto wallet to use USDT, Bitcoin to ‘monetize creators better than advertisers’”(CryptoSlate).
Trivia
Last Week’s A: Senator John Thune played basketball at Biola University.
This Week’s Q: How many sitting U.S. Senators have cast over 10,000 votes?
Thanks for reading and enjoy your weekend.
-GSL
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