NPR. This is The Indicator from Planet Money.
I'm Paddy Hirsch.
And I'm Waylon Wong.
In an unusual show of bipartisanship,
the House Financial Services Committee this month passed the Stablecoin Transparency and Accountability for a Better Ledger Economy,
or STABLE Act.
A similar bill also cleared a Senate banking committee in March.
The legislation now goes up for debate, and quite a debate it's likely to be,
given the announcement in March by a White House-connected company called World Liberty Financial that it plans to launch a stablecoin called USD1.
The news has attracted the attention of lawmakers concerned about a conflict of interest for President Trump.
A company affiliated with Trump and his family members own about a 60% stake in the business.
And Trump has been very chatty about championing the mainstream use of crypto in the U.S.
But what exactly is this stablecoin thing?
On today's show, we'll explain how stablecoins work and how they make money and for whom.
If you've ever been to a casino, or even if you've only ever seen a casino on TV,
you already know the basics of how a stablecoin works.
This is because if you go to a casino, right, you go to the cashier first.
You give her $100 and she gives you a bunch of chips.
In this case, $100 single dollar chips.
And you go into the casino and you play roulette and craps and whatever.