Stablecoins are back in focus as Senate Democrats reject legislation approving their use

Stablecoins have come into focus on Thursday, as Democrats opposed legislation aimed at creating a legal pathway for the digital tokens.

Stablecoins have come into focus on Thursday, as Democrats opposed legislation aimed at creating a legal pathway for the digital tokens. 

Stablecoins are privately issued digital currencies. Proponents like to refer to them as “digital dollars” that are akin to in-store credits a consumer might find at a retailer.  

Unlike other forms of crypto, like Bitcoin, whose values fluctuate, most stablecoins’ values are “pegged,” or set at equivalent to, real-world currencies like the U.S. dollar.  

Stablecoins are in an early stage of evolution and, for now, most consumers don’t interact directly with them.  

Instead, they are primarily used by large crypto exchanges and a growing group of traditional financial institutions as part of “back-end” functions that involve converting crypto into regular currencies, and vice-versa.