A new year brings new legislative opportunities, and in North Carolina, those opportunities are coming into sharper focus. In October, the North Carolina House of Representatives took an important step by establishing the House Select Committee on Blockchain and Digital Assets, signaling a serious interest in how emerging financial technologies could shape the state’s economic future. As lawmakers begin their work in 2026, they face a clear choice: embrace innovation that empowers consumers and strengthens North Carolina’s competitiveness or allow outdated policies and entrenched interests to slow progress.
North Carolinians are shopping online more than ever, from large retailers like Amazon or Walmart to one-person businesses offering unique products. As more commerce moves online, new ways to move money are emerging. One of the most significant innovations is the digital dollar, built on blockchain technology, known as a stablecoin.
WHAT STABLECOINS ARE — AND WHY THEY MATTER
What exactly is a stablecoin? Unlike cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, whose prices can fluctuate widely, stablecoins are designed to maintain a stable value by being backed by US dollars or other high-quality, liquid assets such as short-term government securities. When properly structured, this reserve backing is intended to keep a stablecoin’s value closely aligned with the US dollar.
As former US House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling has warned, “For years, government has interfered with the development of some of the most promising financial innovations in a generation — namely digital assets and the other blockchain-based technologies that have emerged over the last decade.”
Stablecoins illustrate how innovation can benefit consumers when policymakers allow markets to function. Because they retain their value and move at the speed of the internet, stablecoins can be sent in seconds rather than days — often at far lower cost than traditional banking rails.
Financial services companies have been working to integrate stablecoins into everyday payments for consumers since the passage of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act in July 2025. Companies like Cash App and PayPal are racing to integrate stablecoins to deliver more efficient, lower-cost payments for customers and small businesses alike.
Even banks are moving forward with stablecoin offerings. A Nebraska fintech company received preliminary approval to launch the country’s first state-chartered stablecoin bank. Not to be outdone, Tether, the largest stablecoin issuer, is opening its corporate headquarters in Charlotte. This decision is unsurprising, given North Carolina’s strong financial services industry and the legislature’s willingness to pass forward-thinking blockchain legislation.
In addition to offering faster and lower-cost payments, some payment apps and digital asset exchanges are encouraging customers to hold stablecoins on their platforms by offering rewards or interest. In many cases, these returns have recently been in the 3%-4% range — significantly higher than what most North Carolinians currently earn on traditional checking or savings accounts.
A GROWING POLICY DEBATE OVER COMPETITION AND REWARDS
But even as North Carolina is positioned at the forefront of the stablecoin sector, powerful incumbents are seeking congressional action to curb competition. Some large financial institutions are urging Congress to restrict whether payment platforms can offer rewards to customers who hold stablecoins. Banks argue that allowing such incentives could accelerate deposit outflows and affect their ability to lend. But limiting these rewards would also reduce competitive pressure from new payment technologies — pressure that has helped lower costs, improve transaction efficiency, and deliver better returns for consumers.
This would be damaging for North Carolina’s competitiveness and for North Carolinians themselves. Policies that restrict how stablecoins can be used or held would discourage investment, slow adoption, and push innovation — and the high-paying jobs that come with it — to jurisdictions with more favorable rules. At a time when North Carolina is well-positioned to lead in financial technology, such protectionist measures would not only delay a clearly pro-consumer innovation but also deny residents more efficient payments, lower costs, and better returns on their money — all to preserve current market arrangements.
Both Congress and the North Carolina General Assembly have rightly championed new financial technologies that empower consumers and put more money in their pockets. The Old North State’s federal delegation should resist policy changes that would reduce consumer choice or slow financial innovation, and instead support a competitive, neutral framework that allows new technologies to deliver lower costs and better outcomes for North Carolinians.
