As crypto fanatic Donald Trump prepares to take the reins of government, the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued new rules that would have a significant impact on stablecoin issuers and wallet providers, although the future of the proposal remains in doubt.

The CFPB took the first procedural step to open for public comment a proposal on Friday that would establish a framework for applying the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to virtual wallets and stablecoins — the digital tokens tied to the value of a stable asset , usually the US dollar. While it has major implications for the way US stablecoin companies and crypto wallet providers would do business, it is at an early stage as Trump arrives at the White House with the power to appoint a new CFPB chief.

Unlike other bureau chiefs, such as those at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, CFPB Director Rohit Chopra appears unlikely to step down voluntarily. Since the agency’s creation after the 2008 global financial meltdown, its leaders have often taken a more aggressive stance than other regulators, and Republican lawmakers have actively sought to weaken the CFPB’s powers.

In 2020, the Supreme Court confirmed that the president can fire and replace the director at will — a power Trump is expected to exercise.

This last-minute regulatory effort would have to survive the arrival of a Trump-appointed leader before it could be finalized and put into effect. Even if this were a final rule, the Republican-led Congress would have a chance to delete it with its Congressional Review Act authority.

Should it survive, the regulation as proposed — and now open for a public comment period — looks to stablecoins as a payment mechanism. The existing law’s reference to “funds” should include stablecoins, the proposal suggests, and could arguably also include other more volatile cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. “Under this interpretation, the term ‘funds’ will include stablecoins, as well as any other similar fungible assets that either function as a medium of exchange or as a means of payment for goods or services,” the proposal states.

It also said the law’s reach to financial “accounts” should include “virtual wallets that can be used to purchase goods and services or make person-to-person transfers,” specifically if they are used for retail transactions and not purchases. and sale of securities or commodities.

Institutions providing such accounts will be subject to regulatory requirements to provide consumer information and provide protection against unauthorized transactions and the ability to reverse incorrect transfers. These government demands may run counter to the way crypto operations are often set up—such as in decentralized finance (DeFi)—as person-to-person platforms without outside interference, or with wallet technology so users can run themselves.

Consumer advocacy group Better Markets welcomed the agency’s proposal Friday.

“The CFPB’s proposal today extends EFTA protections to non-bank digital payment mechanisms,” said Dennis Kelleher, the group’s president, in a statement. “It would not only protect consumers, but also level the playing field among digital payment mechanisms, whether it involves a bank checking or savings account or another consumer account, such as those used by crypto and video game companies.”

The Cato Institute’s Jack Solowey, a policy analyst at the conservative think tank, countered in a post on social media X that the CFPB’s arguments for this rule are “embarrassingly conclusory,” without even addressing decentralized ledgers and self-hosted wallets.

Bill Hughes, director of global regulatory affairs at Consensys, the Ethereum development company, also opposed the move on X, suggesting: “Add this to the list of ‘law by decree’ issues that need to be addressed.”