On Wednesday, the CEOs of 6 crypto firms appeared before the House Financial Services Committee for approximately 5 hours, testifying about the benefits and risks of cryptocurrency. Representative Maxine Waters, the California Democrat who heads the committee, convened the conference as part of an attempt to better understand rapidly-growing digital assets – as well as how to govern them. It followed the usual partisan patterns, with Democrats raising alarm about the dangers of cryptocurrency while Republicans emphasised creativity and claimed that rigorous regulations could drive the business away from the United States.
Ms. Waters voiced alarm about the rapid adoption of cryptocurrency, saying that the “rapid growth” has been spurred in part by endorsements from celebrities. According to her, these digital assets now lack an “overarching regulatory framework” somewhere at the federal level.
Representative Patrick T. McHenry of North Carolina, her Republican colleague in the committee, suggested his peers may not be quite as tech-savvy as they would have to be to design new regulations. In a subsequent discussion, New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic, questioned executives’ claims that cryptocurrency constituted a fundamental reworking of trade & finance. Mr. Allaire suggested that cryptocurrency must be incorporated into the classic financial system, resulting in a “hybrid model.” Brian Brooks, who served as acting controller of the currency under former President Trump and is now the CEO of the blockchain technology corporation Bitfury, has asked legislators to take into account the decentralisation that cryptocurrency systems can provide, as well as whether Americans would like an internet which brings possession in the hands of consumers rather than a few large tech companies. Weakening the influence of tech behemoths, a bipartisan problem in Congress, is a typical argument used by cryptocurrency fans to push web3 — the industry standard for a concept of the future generation of internet-based technology on blockchain-based currencies. Ms. Waters, on the other hand, pressed the panel on the involvement of Tech Giants in the cryptocurrency economy.
She alerted Paxos, Head of Charles Cascarilla that she had been “concerned” about a pilot programme his firm was engaging in along with Novi, a digital wallet established by Meta.
The CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, stated that his firm has just submitted an application to authorities proposing a “unified joint regime” on cryptocurrency for authorities. Alesia Haas, the chief of Coinbase’s U.S. exchange & the firm’s CFO, stated that Coinbase really wasn’t necessarily asking for the establishment of a new regulatory, but rather wanted further regulatory clarity on the position of cryptocurrency. The executives frequently chastised Gary Gensler, the S.E.C. ‘s chairman, for saying that several crypto tokens fell underneath the agency’s scope and therefore should be listed as securities, that would necessitate more disclosure & regulatory costs. Experts who attended the session expressed scepticism about the possibilities for rapid legislative change.
In an interview, Mr. Brown stated that his inquiry is a “step” towards legislation and that he had been “collaborating” with regulatory agencies such as the Treasury Department & The Securities and Exchange Commission.
