Former Consensys employee launches new stablecoin amid regulatory uncertainty

Former Consensys employee Jack Jia, co-founder of Stable.com, launches new stablecoin USD3 amid regulatory uncertainty and shifting stablecoin narratives.

Stable.com, a fintech company co-founded by former Consensys employee Jack Jia, is launching a new 1:1-backed stablecoin developed “with a programmatic layer in mind.” The stablecoin, USD3, is set to launch on Ethereum, Polygon, Avalanche, and Linea.

USD3 aims to offer developers and businesses an interoperable method of transacting and simplified decentralized application (DApp) integration.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, co-CEO Jia elaborated upon the measures Stable.com is employing to ensure the security and trustworthiness of USD3:

“Stable.com is a regulated financial institution in the U.S. with a broad compliance program formulated by industry veterans. USD3 will always be 1:1 backed by USD or cash equivalents and will regularly go through internal and external audits to ensure transparency and compliance.”

Related: Nomura Holdings, GMO Group form stablecoin research partnership in Japan

Working alongside former Head of Stablecoins at Unlimit, co-CEO Jamal Rees, Jia spoke about the potential risks and challenges of launching a stablecoin in current market conditions:

“While the current global regulatory environment has been slowly improving, there is still insufficient clarity on how stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies will be regulated. A strong and clear regulatory framework will be critical to the long-term success of stablecoins.”

This statement is evidenced by the recent concern raised by Agora CEO Nick van Eck. He warned that yield-bearing stablecoins are more at risk of being classed as securities because they “are not money or stablecoins.”

In the same vein, Cointelegraph asked Jia how the new USD3 stablecoin will address the common issues faced by other stablecoin projects. 

“Stable.com will have access to robust financial infrastructure, meaning that users from all over the world will be able to onboard quickly and efficiently and purchase or sell USD3 with payment methods from all over the globe with very low fees.”

This development in the stablecoin space follows Farcaster co-founder Dan Romero’s recent advocacy for “a stablecoin payments app” for United States-based freelancer workers.

Romero suggested the solution for freelance 1099 workers, workers subject to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service Form 1099 after Venmo decided to hike their transaction fee rate.