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The United States House of Representatives Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry has just called for congressional hearing on June 13 in an effort to discuss the future for the crypto ecosystem and provide clarity on the ongoing debate regarding digital assets.
Congressional Hearing On Digital Assets
Amidst the heavy crackdown on digital assets with major cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance and Coinbase drawing strict scrutiny from regulators, McHenry has announced a full committee hearing titled, “The Future of Digital Assets: Providing Clarity for the Digital Asset Ecosystem.”
It seems the upcoming hearing will seek to provide a blueprint regarding the future of the digital asset industry and lay the groundwork for a regulatory framework in the crypto ecosystem. As per the official press release, the hearing will be live-streamed on the Committee’s website. The list of witnesses should also be available on the website in the coming days.
#NEW: Chairman @PatrickMcHenry announces a hearing on the future of the digital asset ecosystem and Congress' efforts to provide clear rules of the road.
Read more 🔗https://t.co/HwaPWBjJqG
— Financial Services GOP (@FinancialCmte) June 6, 2023
However, it did not provide further information about what will be discussed in the hearing. The announcement comes shortly after the US Congress’ House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture held a hearing on June 6, called “The Future of Digital Assets: Providing Clarity for Digital Asset Spot Markets.”
US Senators Slam SEC
In wake of the heated crypto debacle with regulatory authorities in the United States, many industry as individuals well as leading regulatory authoritative figures have voiced out support against the SEC. On June 7, pro crypto Republican US Senator Cynthia Lummis issued a statement after federal agencies in the US sued Coinbase and Binance.
My statement on the SEC suing Coinbase, inc. https://t.co/5KNEM0IPSV pic.twitter.com/EgRIxrIcjj
— Senator Cynthia Lummis (@SenLummis) June 6, 2023
She said that the SEC has failed to provide adequate legal guidance on what differentiates a security from a commodity, adding the SEC’s continued reliance on regulation by enforcement continues to harm investors. Meanwhile, Senator Bill Hagerty said the SEC was weaponizing its role to kill an industry.
Industry Expert Voice Out Support Against SEC
Many in the crypto industry feel the SEC is going overboard with its regulatory war againt crypto. Cardano chief Charles Hoskinson made a long tweet calling the SEC action “a series of steps to implement chokepoint 2.0 in the United States”. He further claimed that the SEC has an “agenda” of pushing the CBDC in the market by partnering with top banks and maintaining end-to-end control over the broader financial space.
With respect to Binance, I'm reading through the SEC complaint. It's over 130 pages, but seems like the next in a series of steps to implement chokepoint 2.0 in the United States. The end goal is a agenda based CBDC partnered with a handful of massive banks and end-to-end control…
— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) June 5, 2023
Several industry figures are showing signs of frustration at the U.S. government and regulatory bodies like the SEC and CFTC for its lack of clear rules for the industry and its actions against digital currency firms. Earlier this year, Nicolas Cary, president of Blockchain.com had slammed the SEC claiming the regulatory scrutiny on the crypto industry will have far reaching consequenses. Furthermore, Oliver Linch, CEO of Bittrex Global has noted,
“Where I think you have less successful regulatory regimes is when you try to analyze crypto through the lens of traditional finance. You say, ‘well, is it a bit like a security? Is it a commodity?’ … No, it’s kind of none of those things. It’s crypto.”
It seems the recent clampdown against Binance and Coinbase have not managed to spook crypto investors much. For instance, Bitcoin (BTC) dropped sharply Monday but jumped back up more than 3% in the past 24 hours. Similarly, Ethereum (ETH) also reversed losses to trade in the green. The global crypto market cap also jumped 1.58% in the last 24 hours to $1.11 trillion.