Tether, Circle Vie for Upper Hand in Stablecoin Industry Regulatory Push

Recently stepped down as Tether’s longtime CFO and now its chairman, Giancarlo Devasini keeps a low profile in the modest Swiss town of Lugano, according to the article by Angus Berwick.

Circle founder Jeremy Allaire, meanwhile, is comfortable rubbing shoulders with politicians and Wall Street executives, Berwick continued.

The conflict is as much about ideology as it is about business, writes Berwick. Tether embraces crypto’s freewheeling ethos, while Circle is pushing for mainstream acceptance through regulation. “Circle will not win if Tether is alive,” Devasini reportedly said months ago.

The outcome of this battle will shape the future of stablecoins. If regulators succeed in sidelining Tether, Circle’s USDC could gain market share and bring stablecoins further into the traditional financial system.

If Tether survives, and it has shown resiliency in the past after navigating concerns surrounding its commercial paper reserves, it will reinforce crypto’s ability to operate outside centralized influence. Either way, the stakes are high as crypto firms fight for dominance in an industry worth trillions

Lawmakers have introduced three different bills targeting stablecoin regulation, including the Senate’s GENIUS Act, the House’s STABLE Act (introduced by Republicans) and the bill Ranking Member Maxine Waters and former Representative Patrick McHenry developed over the past few years.

Each of these bills would impose certain reserve and reporting requirements on stablecoin issuers, and a JP Morgan analysis suggests Tether may need to adjust its reserves to comply with these bills, if they become law. However, each bill is still in an early phase of the legislative effort, and it’s unclear how long it might take for any of them to be passed through the House, Senate and signed by the president.

According to Allaire, digital currency is a “technology superpower dollar” that will have profound implications for the United States and small businesses, he said in an interview on Fox’s “Mornings with Maria” on Tuesday.

“We’re in a competitive race with China, we’re trying to find what economic system is going to win, what currency system is going to win. This is a technology superpower dollar that expands the role of the United States around the world.”

At the same time, it can eliminate costs spent on fees to credit card companies or to send remittances overseas, making the impact of a digital currency much broader than just becoming the world’s economic superpower.

“There’s a real way to put money back in households’ and small businesses’ pockets as well.”

Allaire called USDC “America’s first digital dollar” given it is backed by the U.S. Dollar in the form of Treasury bills, repo and cash, and has been around and growing for over six years. He said that USDC powers trillions of dollars in transactions, including over $1 trillion a month and has seen 100% growth over the last 12 months.