According to BlockBeats, Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at digital asset management company Bitwise, recently stated that if the US Congress passes comprehensive stablecoin legislation this year, its impact could surpass the launch of the US spot Bitcoin ETF in promoting widespread cryptocurrency adoption. Last Wednesday, senior Democratic member of the US House Financial Services Committee, Maxine Waters, announced that she and Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry will soon introduce a stablecoin bill. Hougan believes this significant signal has been underestimated by the market.
He pointed out that the bipartisan consensus in Congress on stablecoin legislation is primarily based on three factors: 1. Stablecoins help the US dollar maintain its global reserve currency status; 2. Stablecoin projects are major buyers of US Treasury bonds, equivalent to the 16th largest sovereign holder globally; 3. Stablecoins hold enormous financial opportunities, such as Tether, the largest stablecoin issuer, which generated $6.3 billion in profits last year with only 125 employees.
Hougan predicts that as the first comprehensive cryptocurrency legislation passed by Congress, this bill will allow banks like JPMorgan Chase to enter the field. Millions of individuals and businesses will be exposed to crypto wallets, stablecoins, and blockchain-based payment channels. The use of stablecoin payments could become the norm in the next few years. Hougan describes this as another 'step change' in the cryptocurrency market following the Bitcoin ETF.
Although investors cannot directly profit from the appreciation of stablecoins, they can invest in related infrastructure, such as Ethereum and Solana, which supply a large number of stablecoins, and various DeFi applications that interact with stablecoins.