WASHINGTON—As Washington attempts to get its arms around the rapidly growing cryptocurrency industry, policy makers in the Biden administration and on Capitol Hill have identified stablecoins as an initial target for tighter regulation.
Often billed as one-to-one representations of a currency like the dollar, stablecoins have recently exploded in popularity as investors use them for trading other cryptocurrencies. There are dozens of stablecoins, though a handful pegged to the dollar account for most of the market value, which grew roughly 500% in the 12 months ending in October, according to a report from the Biden administration.