Cryptocurrencies shall be a scorching matter as the US Congress resumes and the battle strains are drawn between lawmakers for and in opposition to the fledgling monetary trade.
However the Blockchain Affiliation studies that greater than 100 crypto trade advocates are preventing to assist strike the appropriate steadiness between safety and innovation.
The 118th U.S. Congress convened in Washington D.C. on Jan. 3. It’s scheduled to proceed till Jan. 3, 2025, throughout the last two years of President Joe Biden’s first time period.
The crypto trade is at the moment within the crosshairs following a number of high-profile meltdowns final yr, the biggest being the collapse of FTX in early November.
In a Twitter thread on Jan. 3, the Director of Authorities Relations on the Blockchain Affiliation, Ron Hammond, highlighted the challenges and alternatives for Congress on the day it resumed.
1) This week in Congress and crypto: The primary day of the 118th Congress has arrived! It’s no secret, the crypto trade is within the crosshairs of Congress after the FTX fallout. This Congress presents challenges and alternatives although so right here is the newest from the bottom…
— Ron Hammond (@RonwHammond) January 3, 2023
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has gone from a political donation darling to public enemy primary on Capitol Hill. Hammond added:
“The issue for a lot of in DC is that they equate FTX with your complete crypto trade.”
The meltdown may provoke “once-in-a-decade laws” and there are already strong regulatory framework submissions such because the Lummis-Gillibrand invoice. The bipartisan invoice addresses company jurisdiction, stablecoin laws, banking, crypto taxes, and interagency coordination.
Hammond stated the primary few months of Congress would concentrate on FTX although stablecoin regulation can even be a precedence.
“Smaller payments like stablecoins and spot market regulation have an opportunity of transferring this yr, however will seemingly want to attend until the mud settles on FTX each within the courts and the congressional hearings.”
The battle strains shall be break up between pro-crypto Chair of Home Monetary Providers Patrick McHenry and anti-crypto Chair of Senate Banking Sherrod Brown who took the intense measure of suggesting a ban on crypto final month.
There are additionally proposals to control crypto from the Agriculture Committees which advocate for the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee (CFTC) to supervise laws.
Hammond additionally stated it’s seemingly Congress will deal with new subjects this yr similar to nonfungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and decentralized finance (DeFi) which have seen elevated curiosity resulting from enforcement actions final yr.
On the upside, he concluded crypto has a “sturdy bench in D.C. and continues to poach expertise from different industries on the advocacy, lobbying, and coverage entrance.”
A gaggle that previously numbered lower than a dozen individuals from CoinCenter, Coinbase, the Blockchain Affiliation, and some different teams “has now develop into a community of 100+ coverage consultants,” which is a cause for optimism, he added.
Associated: 4 legislative predictions for crypto in 2023
On Jan. 4, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse additionally stated he was “cautiously optimistic” for 2023. He added that no invoice is ideal and pursuing one shouldn’t stall Congressional progress in growing a regulatory framework.
