Today, the subcommittee of digital assets of the American Bank of the American Senate has welcomed an audience entitled “Exploration of the Bipartisan legislative framework for the structure of the digital asset market” in which the panelists implored the congress to adopt legislation on digital assets soon.
(Spoiler alert: The word “bitcoin” did not come once during the hearing. That said, Bitcoin would be subject to part of the cryptographic settlement discussed during the hearing. Therefore, it is important as Bitcoin enthusiast to understand what has been said.)
The hearing took place following the Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Thom Tillis (R-N-NC), Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and the President of the Bank of the Senate Tim Scott (R-SC) issuing principles for the structure of the digital asset market this morning. (See the complete list of principles here.)
Senator Lummis presided over the event and launched it by addressing some of the principles aforementioned, while adding strictly that now that the Senate has voted on the Act on Engineering, the United States is reaching the 21st century financially.
The senator was joined by senators Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Bernie Moreno (R-OH), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Dave McCormack (R-P-PA) and the panel of witnesses, in particular:
- Sarah Hammer, Executive director at the Wharton school at the University of Pennsylvania
- Greg Xethalis, Advocate General of Multicoin Capital and member of the Blockchain Association Blockchain Board and the DEFI Education Fund
- Ryan Vangrack, vice-president of the legal in Coinbase
- The honorable Rostin Behnam, an eminent scholarship holder at the Psaros Center for Financial Markets & Policy, Georgetown University, and former president of the Commodity Futures Futures Commission Futures Futures Commission (CFTC).
Fight illicit activity in cryptographic space
In the first series of questions from Senator Lummis, Behnam and Hammer highlighted the importance of fighting illegal activity involving digital assets via clear anti-whiteness and anti-terrorist financing rules, although none have come into detail on what it might look like.
When Senator Lummis asked Hammer which country the United States should take note with regard to its anti-terrorist financing regulations for crypto, Hammer quoted Singapore.
Before leaving the subject of the fight against illegal crypto, Behnam said that the more the congress awaited to adopt complete legislation on the structure of the market, the more it gives space to the actors not recommendable to operate.
“Bad players will gravitate to unregulated areas,” said Behnam.
Consumer protection for cryptographic investors
Senator Hagerty, the main sponsor of the Act on Engineering, which recently adopted in the Senate, praised the bipartite efforts in the legislative process around digital assets, alluding to the idea that he would like to see his colleagues maintain momentum.
And on the theme of bipartite, the only Democratic senator present at the audience, the Senator Alsobrooks, seemed optimistic about the potential of the crypto, but also anxious to set up the appropriate guards for investors.
She asked Behnam which consumer protection elements was essential for cryptographic investors.
Behnam quoted “protection against bankruptcy” as the most important element in consumer protection.
“Customer assets must be entirely separated so that there is no question in the event of bankruptcy that the assets will be returned to customers,” said Behnam.
The price of failure of crypto legislation in the United States
Towards the last part of the hearing, Senator Moreno asked the panelists how long the United States had to adopt cryptographic regulations as well as what the price could not be done.
Xethalis replied by saying: “We must act now”, before sharing what he thought was the two largest potential costs in the United States which are not acting soon.
He said the first cost is that other jurisdictions could adopt more expensive rules for crypto, which could cause friction if it was adopted worldwide. He cited the strict rules of Europe for the decades of the Internet backwards back as a previous one.
Xethalis then argued that the second cost is economical. He said the United States was late in 5G development and the manufacture of silicon fleas and stressed that it did not want to see the same thing happening with the crypto.
A call to bipartisanship
Senator Lummis closed the hearing by imploring his senior colleagues as well as the panelists to engage in bipartite discussions and work in the aisle, as she did with Senator Gillibrand.
She noted that it seems that some Democrats have been reluctant to engage in the legislative process around the crypto because the family of President Trump is involved in the industry, adding that the crypto is greater than the participation of the president and that the Democrats should recognize it.
