Congress keeps talking-bsp-bb-link> about regulating stablecoins-bsp-bb-link> but doing nothing. It’s a lapse that poses growing dangers to investors, the financial system and even (perhaps) national security.
Don’t be fooled by the name: Stablecoins pose some of the greatest risks of any digital asset. The companies that issue the coins, led by Tether Holdings Ltd.’s USDT, offer the crypto equivalent of a dollar (or some other currency or reference asset). Instead of undergoing the huge price swings that seem normal in other digital assets, stablecoins are supposed to preserve their value.
That promise of stability is the key to their unique …