VanEck executive criticizes U.S. Treasury’s “outdated” view on stablecoins

Matthew Sigel, head of digital asset research at VanEck, criticized the U.S. Treasury’s recent views on digital assets in a recent report, saying that its anti-stablecoin stance is based on outdated academic views. Sigel said that the Treasury relied on an academic study by Gary Gorton and Jeffery Zhang to justify its preference for a centralized financial system. In addition, he said that the study’s U.S.-centric historical analysis contributes to a “circular narrative” that private currencies are inherently unstable, which he believes is misleading. “History in other countries shows that private currencies are not automatically unstable—when there are the right checks and balances, they can be as reliable as government-issued currencies,” he added. It is worth mentioning that the U.S. Treasury document gave a positive evaluation of representing real assets on the blockchain (i.e., tokenization), adding that stablecoins and tokenization could reshape the financial landscape. In addition, the report also warned of potential stability risks associated with stablecoins and believed that their increasing reliance on U.S. Treasuries would pose risks if not regulated. Sigel said that stablecoins have shown the potential to operate safely under an appropriate global regulatory framework, and modern stablecoins have real-time data and transparent transactions, which are far from the chaotic environment of the past, and the old problems are no longer applicable. Sigel finally called for a broader global review. He believes that understanding the potential of stablecoins and private digital currencies requires going beyond a U.S.-only perspective and drawing on international financial experience. In addition, he urged U.S. regulators to take a more inclusive view that reflects the reality of an interconnected, digital global economy. (CryptoSlate)