Issuance and treatment of payment stablecoins

(a) Issue It shall be unlawful for any person other than a permitted payment stablecoin issuer to issue a payment stablecoin in the United States. (b) Treatment A payment stablecoin that is not issued by a permitted payment stablecoin issuer shall not be acceptable as a settlement asset to facilitate wholesale payments between banking organizations or by a payment infrastructure to facilitate exchange and settlement among banking organizations. (c) Penalty for violation (1) In general Whoever knowingly participates in a violation of subsection (a) shall be fined not more than $1,000,000 for each such violation, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both. (2) Referral to Attorney General If a primary Federal payment stablecoin regulator has reason to believe that any person has knowingly violated subsection (a), the primary Federal payment stablecoin regulator shall refer the matter to the Attorney General.