The U.S. Congress held a hearing on the crypto industry. CEOs of major cryptocurrency companies shared their views with congressmen about the existing problems and prospects of the crypto industry’s development.
The House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services conducted a hearing on “Digital Assets and the Future of Finance: Understanding the Challenges and Benefits of Financial Innovation in the United States.” The agenda included the activities of cryptocurrency exchanges, the issuance of stablecoins, the regulatory framework of digital assets, and federal agencies’ policy.
The cryptocurrency industry was represented by CEOs of Circle, FTX, Bitfury, Paxos and Stellar Development Foundation, as well as the CFO of Coinbase. Politicians were mostly interested in the technical aspects of the industry and the potential of digital assets, demonstrating a high level of engagement.
The need to bring the industry up to unified regulatory standards and update individual regulators’ powers, such as the SEC and CFTC, was voiced during the Congressional hearing.
Words were exchanged about the need to incorporate stablecoin issuers into the existing banking system. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez noted that crypto companies are not creating a new financial system but expanding the old one. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire supported her in this point, saying that blockchain technology is shaping “a new global economic infrastructure layer.”
Bitfury CEO Brian Brooks urged to look beyond financial issues as blockchain technology can negate the impact of the human factor like mistakes, negligence, greed, fraud and bias on the financial system. At the same time, he called for the study and regulation of new risks arising in such a system.
Samuel Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX, stressed the ability of cryptocurrency systems to provide greater access to banking services and make the financial system fairer. After the hearing, he noted that he had initially expected hostility from congressmen, but the discussion turned out to be very useful. Democratic lawmakers generally viewed the potential of cryptocurrencies very highly, regarding them as a more affordable alternative to the current banking system.
However, some congressmen expressed their dissatisfaction with the crypto sector’s representatives. These included environmental issues, gender and ethnic diversity, support from Wall Street financiers, and disregard for the government.
You can find a recorded meeting on YouTube:
