The top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee in the US told Bloomberg that stablecoin legislation could be ready soon. This development strengthens hopes that the United States may enact a new stablecoin law before the election, which was seen as hopeless at the beginning of the year.

Rep. Maxine Waters (Democrat-California), the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, told Bloomberg that the final version of stablecoin legislation could be ready soon. Waters has previously called a stablecoin bill “deeply problematic and bad for America.”

“The important thing is to ensure that investors and the public are protected,” Waters told Bloomberg. “We need to make sure they have these assets to support stablecoins,” she added.

This development strengthens hopes that the United States may pass a new stablecoin law before the election this year. At the beginning of the year, this possibility was seen as quite slim.

Congressional action on stablecoin legislation has gained momentum in recent weeks in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. According to the report, Waters said that the US Federal Reserve (Fed), the Treasury Department and the White House all contributed to the preparation of the bill.

Waters and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry (Republican-North Carolina), who have been negotiating for 22 months, are meeting with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to try to speed up the passage of the legislation by tying it to the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization, which is due to be reauthorized next month.

Last week in the Senate, Senators Cynthia Lummis (Republican-Wyoming) and Kirsten Gillibrand (Democrat-New York) introduced a new stablecoin bill. This bill calls for banning algorithmic stablecoins and requiring issuers’ tokens to be fully backed by reserve assets.

Waters also told Bloomberg that he spoke with Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown about stablecoins. Brown told Bloomberg earlier this month that he was open to advancing stablecoin legislation.

The stablecoin law could also be combined with the marijuana banking law. Brown’s committee has advanced the marijuana bill but could face opposition from Republican leader Mitch McConnell. But Waters said he hopes he can overcome such resistance if there is any.

In March, McHenry said in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives that stablecoin legislation was largely complete and just needed a scheduled floor vote.

These developments show that the USA is preparing to take serious steps regarding the regulation of stablecoins. Protection of investors and the public is at the center of the law, and as work in this direction accelerates, a comprehensive stablecoin law may soon be unveiled. This suggests that the US is pursuing a more distinct roadmap in regulating cryptocurrencies and digital assets.