1/ More major US government action on crypto, this time from the White House working group on financial markets, with a slate of proposed policy around USD stablecoins. We have a few things to say on the matter! https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm1223

2/ Very quick reaction -- nearly everything that is being proposed is highly aligned with how Centre operates and USDC is issued today. Broadly, this is a very significant development in terms of acknowledging USDC as emerging significant payment infrastructure in the US.

3/ The largest regulator of US national banks seems to agree: https://www.occ.treas.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2020/nr-occ-2020-177.html

4/ Governance, reserve policies, cyber and security policies, robust KYC/AML/CFT programs, comprehensive audits, transparency, etc. are all hallmarks of Centre and USDC. We are way ahead of the pack here.

5/ Liquidity, custody in US banking system, multiple reserve banking partners, safe underlying reserves, transparent user agreements with clear policies on 1:1 redeem-ability, etc. These are also all foundations for how Centre and USDC has been governed and offered.

6/ This paves the way for stablecoins to become a major part of the payments and settlement infrastructure of the financial system. With Centre expanding, expect many more FI's to be involved with USDC, and expect more Centre stablecoins. https://medium.com/centre-blog/financial-industry-veteran-david-puth-joins-centre-as-chief-executive-officer-840712968ef4

7/ But, there are clearly areas where there needs to be more work, around the use of stablecoins with unhosted wallets and DeFi protocols. The statement implies that stablecoin user identities must be known across unhosted wallets.

8/ This is clearly Mnuchin's reference to the PROPOSED Fincen rules on transaction reporting for unhosted wallets, and will be vigorously fought. Under those rules, large transactions in stablecoins with unhosted wallets would require capturing name and physical address.

9/ The PWG statement basically cross-references the midnight rule-making attempt by Mnuchin. We will defeat that attempt both because the substance of the rules are extremely problematic, and the process will be challenged.

10/ Most importantly, it is vital that the US government carefully considers how digital dollar stablecoins work over the internet and tap into the massive innovation of public chains, DeFi, smart contracts, etc.

11/ Getting this right isn't just about getting regulations right, it's about the crypto industry stepping up its game around decentralized identity models, identity attestation approaches, that can preserve privacy but enable accountability. Crypto itself provides the answers.

12/ With the current White House administration winding down , it's good to get their views on stablecoin policy, and I know this represents a lot of work from agency staff on these issues too.

13/ We are looking forward to picking this conversation up with the Biden Administration, and the many many leaders and civil servants across the US Treasury, SEC, CFTC and others as we usher in the next major phase of the global financial system.