Wyoming's New "Stable Token" Could Be Integrated Into Tik Tok

The prospective buyer of Tik Tok, Reid Rasner from Casper, Wyoming spoke with lawmakers this week about Wyoming's new "stable token."

Prospective buyer of Tik Tok, Reid Rasner from Casper, Wyoming spoke with lawmakers this week about the State's new "stable token."

If you haven't been following this, just know that Wyoming's coin is the first of its kind in the nation and is essentially in a race with the federal government to see who can get it stood up first.

Stable tokens are a type of digital asset or cryptocurrency that are minted on a blockchain network. The system's selling point is its quest to maintain a stable value by having its market value pegged to an external reference, most commonly fiat, or traditional currency.

This is in contrast to other types of cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin, which are designed to have a fluctuating value that is determined by supply and demand in the market.

The tokens can be used to make payments, transfer value, and access financial services in a decentralized and transparent way.

The State's new stable token has been a major topic of conversation among lawmakers and the public alike.

Some members of the House Appropriations Committee questioned why they were being asked to take these banking bills a little bit slower. By whom, we do not know.

"I'm just a little surprised that we're being asked to slow down a little bit on the banking bills when we have a lot of time," said Rep. Steve Pursglove, R-Casper.

The comment came during an interview with Anthony Apollo, executive director of the Wyoming Stable Token Commission, which was established in March 2023 through the Wyoming Stable Token Act.

Apollo appeared on the Digital Euro Association online broadcast in January. He described the team he leads as "trying to create essentially a start-up within the context of US state government." This is a point upon which some have been critical of this endeavor. Some doubt the stable token will have any benefit to banks and believe it will just set up a new competitor that is state-backed.

Officials have also been inconsistent in their messaging, at times describing the coin as a Wyoming currency, then at other times saying it is just a representation of the U.S. dollar held in trust by the state of Wyoming and invested in short-term treasuries.” That appears to be exactly what a bank does already.

But the Wyoming Stable Token will be backed by interest-bearing US Treasury securities and repurchase agreements. The plan is that treasuries should generate interest income that will be transferred to the Wyoming School Foundation Program, to fund the state's public education system. So, the argument goes that the more people use the stablecoin, the more schools should potentially benefit.

Some critical analysts believe that, "WYST stablecoin might also be in direct competition with the Trump family's World Liberty Financial USD1 stablecoin."

In federal news this week, the GENIUS Act bill that would have established the first federal framework for regulating payment stablecoins failed in Congress.

Senator Lummis' office issued a statement: "I’m deeply disappointed that we were unable to pass this important, bipartisan-crafted stablecoin legislation. Make no mistake, digital assets are the future and America must lead the way."

This came after Lummis was critical of Trump's meme coin event at the White House. The following day, the $TRUMP meme coin surged more than 50% boosting its total market value to $2.7 billion.

Some in crypto world argue that "meme coins" derive their value from internet culture rather than from an underlying utility or asset.

"This is the Wild West, and so when I hear things like this, my reaction is, we need to legislate so there are rules," Lummis said.

In the big crypto pie, it seems that everyone wants a slice.