The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler said at a Senate hearing on Tuesday that stablecoins "may well be securities".

Gensler and Senator Pat Toomey repeatedly discussed whether stablecoins are securities. Toomey believes that stablecoins do not meet the Howey test that defines investment contracts because there is no profit expectation. Gensler said that stablecoins may be a type of securities. Current laws have a broad definition of securities, and Congress can modify these laws. 

Gensler also said: "I am not negative or minimalist about crypto, I just think it would be better to put it in the investor system established by Congress."