Former CFTC Chairman Says Stablecoins Can Be a Bridge Between Two Worlds

Timothy Massad, the former CFTC Chairman, highlighted the benefits of stablecoins and urged regulators not to discredit their regulatory usefulness.

Former U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Timothy Massad highlighted the importance of government attention to the stablecoin ecosystem in an interview with CNBC.

On July 24, Massad told the CNBC interviewer that he sees stablecoins as a bridge between "the crypto world and the real world" and that governments shouldn't see them as a doomed fad.

The former president said he was "concerned" that the risks of stablecoins are not being properly considered by regulators, but instead being kept out of the conversation thinking they don't actually work.

"I understand that a lot of people in government are saying...we're not sold on the use case here, we don't really see what the value is in the real world," he said. "But sometimes it takes time to really find out."

Massad has been a strong advocate for crypto regulation and more cohesive collaboration between the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) when it comes to digital assets.

On July 24, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), a national oversight agency of Congress, released a report on the use of blockchain in finance in which it echoes the sentiment of inter-agency cooperation on crypto regulations.

Related: Korean banks seek stablecoin, alternative to CBDC

In the same interview with CNBC, he pointed out that stablecoins could have the potential to create faster payment mechanisms in the United States and that if the United States were to create a stablecoin, it could cause other countries to do the same.

"I...