Circle President Urges Congress to Pass CLARITY Act Amid Stablecoin Growth
Circle President Heath Tarbert urged Congress to advance the CLARITY Act during a House Financial Services Committee hearing, arguing that changes in stablecoins, tokenization, and digital payments are creating new questions for financial regulation.
Tarbert pointed out that the dollar's share of global foreign-exchange reserves has declined from more than 70% in the late 1990s to about 57%, which he said shows why policymakers should not assume continued demand for the dollar. He referred to this effort as 'dollar statecraft,' connecting monetary policy with developments in financial infrastructure.
Tarbert also discussed the growth of stablecoins, noting that approximately 98% of global stablecoin value is denominated in U.S. dollars. However, he cautioned that dollar dominance in stablecoins is not guaranteed to continue and that other jurisdictions' regulatory frameworks may gain greater influence.