Lawmakers and industry leaders are calling on the US Congress to conduct a regulatory overhaul of the cryptocurrency sector under President Donald Trump’s administration in order to ensure the country maintains an edge over its global competitors.
The topic was discussed at a hearing held on February 11 by the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Artificial Intelligence, entitled “A Golden Age of Digital Assets: Charting a Path Forward.” The hearing was attended by top cryptocurrency executives such as PayPal’s José Fernández da Ponte, Jonathan Jachym of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, and Harvard University’s Timothy Massad.
The debate revolved around six bills, including the Resolution in Support of Digital Assets and Their Networks; the Law to Protect Innovation in Financial Regulation, which proposes the creation of a strategic center – within the SEC – to supervise emerging technologies in the financial sector; and the Law on New Technological Frontiers, which orders an exhaustive study on NFTs to evaluate their impact and possible regulations.
Also included is a Resolution to conduct a joint study on Decentralized Finance (DeFI) and the so-called GENIUS Act, which proposes establishing a clear regulatory framework for stablecoins, the latter being one of the issues that most caught the attention of legislators.
The general request of the executives is that Congress join the efforts of the Donald Trump government to implement clear regulation in the country, which would allow giving a new boost to the sector. An idea that was supported by Coy Garrison, partner at the Stepto law firm, who insisted on the need for Congress to work on specific laws for cryptocurrency trading.
Coy Garrison, Partner at Stepto Law Firm. Source: YouTube
His approach was supported by Ji Hun Kim, acting president and CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI), emphasizing the importance of a clear and comprehensive digital asset policy at the federal level.
The executive recalled that international competitors, such as the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan and Singapore, are moving forward with regulations while the United States is at risk of falling behind. Based on this, he outlined four key legislative priorities to ensure that the United States remains a global leader in digital assets.
These include passing comprehensive market structure legislation, passing stablecoin legislation, improving coordination between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), supporting decentralized finance, and individual empowerment.
These are just some of the aspects that are contemplated in the bills that have been presented to Congress and that are being evaluated by the working teams formed by the White House cryptocurrency czar, David Sacks.
Hun Kim also took the opportunity to call on the government to drop lawsuits against cryptocurrency exchanges such as Coinbase, Binance and Kraken, a matter the SEC is expected to move forward on soon.
Congressmen expressed their doubts
During the hearing, some members of the Subcommittee took the opportunity to ask questions to the attendees, expressing the doubts and questions they have regarding the sector, mainly regarding the issues of disintermediation of decentralized platforms, self-custody and KYC (know your customer) regulations. They cited concerns regarding the freedom that many in the ecosystem are asking for.
Among the congressmen was Democrat Maxine Waters, well known among Bitcoiners for her ideas opposed to the Bitcoin (BTC) ecosystem.
The legislator criticized the fact that memecoins such as those issued by President Trump and his wife, shortly before the inauguration, are allowed to be launched. She described this as a “scam.” She reiterated her rejection of stablecoins because “they are not that stable and the way their backup system works is not good at all.”
At this point, Waters asked the audience how to address these “failures.” A question that was answered by Timothy Massad, from Harvard University, pointing out that this is precisely what regulation is for: to be able to set limits and establish clear rules.
The requests received the support of Republican Tom Emmer, known for his constant support for the sector and his regulatory proposals that seek the recognition of digital assets. As vice president of the Subcommittee, he promised to consider the approaches presented at the hearing, and above all to ensure that stablecoins have a well-defined legal framework.
“Together, we will work to create a regulatory framework that keeps America a leader in innovation while protecting consumers and investors, right-sizing the regulatory system, including for community banks, and ensuring our agencies are held accountable for their statutory missions,” he concluded.
