In recent weeks, Congress, specifically the House Committee on Financial Services, have held a series of hearings on cryptocurrencies and their role in the world. Even the hearings, which were supposed to focus on SEC oversight, mostly raised questions about cryptocurrencies and climate issues. Tomorrow we will see another session of the House Committee on Agriculture, which will look specifically at the regulation of cryptocurrencies.
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“Regulatory clarity,” as the cryptocurrency industry calls it, can come in two ways. Either federal regulatory agencies create formal guidelines and rules to address specific issues, or Congress passes laws addressing those issues. Regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have issued several proposed rules (in some cases negative feedback from industry), but public expectations are focused on potential action by Congress. This week we will take a look at another audience that we hope will be related to the cryptocurrency market.
Because it's important?
Congress continues to grapple with the idea of regulating cryptocurrencies. The practicality of the new guidelines remains unclear, but lawmakers took a different path on Wednesday.
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We don't know for sure if any law will be passed this year. The industry expects stablecoins to have the best chance of success in fiat terms. Those expectations were dampened somewhat during the stablecoin trial earlier this month, when Rep. Maxine Waters, rating member of the House Financial Services Committee, said the bill reflected sentiment last October and it did. . In his opinion, the commission had to start "from scratch".
Of course, the Senate Banking Committee is unlikely to accept the bill publicly, but the fact that the House has a bipartisan product suggests there is an opportunity. Now he's dead.
However, MPs are optimistic about the possibility of signing the law next year.
During the 2023 Consensus last week, I asked Congressman Patrick McHenry (RN.C), chairman of the Financial Services Committee, if he thought there was a way for the bill to become law this year.
He said yes and added that a new market structure law would be introduced in two months.
Senator Cynthia Lamis (R-WI) sounded just as optimistic.
In the House's view, the next step for the bill is Wednesday's session, which begins at 9:30 a.m. and will include former CFTC Chair and current Harvard scholar Timothy Massad, Crypto Republic CEO Andrew Dorje, and Wilmer Cutler. Pickering Hill and Role Partner Matthew Culkin, Kraken Legal Director Marco Santori and Web3 Foundation Legal Director Daniel Schoenberger.
In his written testimony, Massad said one of the challenges was the lack of federal regulators for non-security cryptocurrency markets, and the debate over how to classify whether a particular cryptocurrency is a security.
SEC chairman Gary Gensler said most of the tokens are securities, and the problem is a lack of compliance with current regulatory requirements. Industry players have complained about a lack of clear rules to address this issue, and he asked regulators to come up with specific new rules. to cryptocurrencies.” Meanwhile, trading and lending platforms say they only work with tokens that are not securities, thus avoiding direct federal oversight. As a result, investor protection on cryptocurrency trading and lending platforms is completely inadequate.”
Mossad is proposing that Congress pass legislation that would establish certain principles and standards that every exchange must follow, regardless of whether the listed tokens are securities or commodities.
This, he said, would avoid the need to broaden the definition of securities laws or create a new class system for digital assets, while still covering the digital currency market as a whole.
The hearing also included a jointly proposed resolution that Congress should provide additional guidance to the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the US CFTC on how to provide existing regulatory protections for the cryptocurrency industry.
- FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried plans to deny most of the criminal charges against him . Lawyers for Sam Bankman-Fried filed a series of motions to drop 10 of the 13 charges against him, arguing that prosecutors misframed many of the charges.
- US cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex filed for bankruptcy in Delaware US unit Bittrex has filed for bankruptcy. Bittrex Global remains unchanged.
- DCG seeks to refinance debt owed to Genesis and raise growth capital . Digital Currency Group (CoinDesk parent company) is looking for ways to raise capital and refinance some of its commitments to Genesis.
- The New York Attorney General is pushing for new crypto powers from state regulators . This seems necessary. New York Attorney General Letitia James has suggested that the legislature pass legislation that would give her more power over the cryptocurrency sector. I will talk more about this in the coming weeks.
Monday
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Tuesday
- 12:30 UTC (14:30 CET) The French Senate will hold hearings on crypto influencers.
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Wednesday
- At 13:30 UTC (0930 ET), the House Committees on Agriculture and Financial Services will hold their first joint meeting on digital assets. House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry (RN.C) announced the joint hearing last month.
Thursday
- 14:30 UTC (10:30 ET) Bankruptcy Court Judge Louis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York will decide on certain types of withdrawals and whether they should be allowed in the ongoing Blockchain case.
- ( The Verge ) I think it's an interesting snapshot of the internet 25 years after Google launched.
- ( Bloomberg ) Court servers who tried to sue him threw him in the car he was driving at the time, said attorney Shaquille O'Neal (the attorneys behind the lawsuit previously said the basketball player "hidden" the server).
If you have any thoughts or questions about what I should discuss next week, or any other feedback you'd like to share, please email me at nik@coindesk.com or find me on Twitter @nikhileshde.
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See you next week.
This story originally appeared on Coindesk