{"id":2407225,"date":"2025-02-26T20:38:02","date_gmt":"2025-02-27T01:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-considers-rules-of-the-road-for-bitcoin-at-digital-asset-hearing-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-02-26T20:39:56","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T01:39:56","slug":"senate-considers-rules-of-the-road-for-bitcoin-at-digital-asset-hearing-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-considers-rules-of-the-road-for-bitcoin-at-digital-asset-hearing-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate considers \u2018rules of the road\u2019 for bitcoin at digital asset hearing &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsenate-considers-rules-of-the-road-for-bitcoin-at-digital-asset-hearing-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2407225&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The U.S.senate committee on \u200ddigital\u200d assets held its first hearing to discuss regulations for the cryptocurrency market, emphasizing the need for \u200bclear guidelines to foster \u2063innovation while ensuring consumer protection. Senator Cynthia Lummis,chairman of the committee,is a key\u200d advocate for establishing a regulatory framework,particularly focusing on stablecoins,which are cryptocurrencies linked to stable assets like the U.S. dollar. Lummis has \u2062<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/marjorie-taylor-greene-says-strict-gun-laws-create-murder\/\" title=\"Marjorie Taylor Greene claims gun control &#039;leads to more killings&#039;.\">previously introduced legislation aimed<\/a> at clarifying the \u200croles of regulatory bodies in \u200boverseeing digital currencies \u2064amidst ongoing disputes between agencies.<\/p>\n<p>Senator Ruben Gallego highlighted\u200d the opportunities and\u200d challenges \u2064within the crypto market,\u2062 cautioning against speculative assets like \u200bmeme coins, which\u200d often distract from providing genuine financial services\u2062 to underserved communities. The hearing saw testimonies from various industry experts, who raised concerns over existing bills being less stringent than European standards and potentially lacking in addressing key issues\u200b like bankruptcy.<\/p>\n<p>The push for regulatory changes is being fueled by critically important financial\u2064 contributions from crypto firms to political campaigns, especially among candidates more favorable\u2064 to the industry. However, ther are divisions among Democrats on how to approach\u200b cryptocurrency regulation, especially with figures like Senator Elizabeth Warren advocating for stricter oversight. \u2062Despite a relatively \u200clow percentage of Americans currently \u2064engaging\u2062 with cryptocurrency,\u2062 interest and favorable\u2064 opinions appear to be growing.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Senate considers &lsquo;rules of the road&rsquo; for bitcoin at digital asset hearing<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2021784\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>A new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/senate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Senate\">Senate<\/a> committee for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/cryptocurrency\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Senate\">digital assets <\/a>held its inaugural hearing on Wednesday as Congress moves toward crafting comprehensive legislation to regulate the crypto market and protect consumers.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;This industry needs clear rules of the road that it can follow while simultaneously promoting both responsible innovation and protecting consumers,&rdquo; said Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), the chairwoman of the Senate Banking <a href=\"https:\/\/www.banking.senate.gov\/hearings\/exploring-bipartisan-legislative-frameworks-for-digital-assets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Subcommittee on Digital Assets<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Lummis has been a champion for bitcoin and digital assets in Congress and has made strides in shaping policy. Earlier this month, Sens. Lummis, Bill Hagerty (R-TN), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)<a href=\"https:\/\/www.banking.senate.gov\/newsroom\/majority\/scott-hagerty-lummis-gillibrand-introduce-legislation-to-establish-a-stablecoin-regulatory-framework\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"> introduced a bill <\/a>that would create a regulatory framework for a unique class of cryptocurrency called stablecoins, which are digital currencies pegged to other assets like the U.S. dollar.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Lummis also mentioned <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/118th-congress\/senate-bill\/2281\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">another bill<\/a> she previously introduced with Gillibrand, the Responsible Financial Innovation Act, back in 2023 that clarified federal regulators&rsquo; responsibilities. There has been a turf war between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the bill differentiates the role of each when it comes to digital currency.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), the ranking member of the panel who has been friendly to the industry, said the market &ldquo;presents both extraordinary opportunities and significant challenges.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Arizona senator issued a warning about meme coins, which are cryptocurrencies inspired by internet memes or trends and are typically volatile in nature.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The growth of things like meme coins on everything from Trump to DOGE to Peanut the Squirrel are about flashy headlines and trending on social media, and they&rsquo;re not about helping traditionally un- and under-banked communities gaining access to the financial system,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>There&rsquo;s been a large push in Washington toward regulatory changes that could benefit the crypto sector. Republicans in particular are pushing to deliver on President Donald Trump&rsquo;s pledge to turn the United States into the &ldquo;crypto capital of the planet.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The renewed effort comes amid&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/3120300\/crypto-super-pacs-senate-elections\/\">a major fundraising splash in the 2024 election<\/a>&nbsp;by top crypto firms that dumped millions of dollars into the campaigns of candidates who were more accomodating to the industry, including Gallego.&nbsp;The embrace of the sector also comes after years of hostility from the Biden administration, with many in the industry specifically accusing the leader of the SEC at the time, Gary Gensler, of unfairly targeting it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The hearing featured the testimony of Lewis Cohen, Partner at Cahill Gordon &amp; Reindell LLP, Jonathan Jachym, deputy general counsel and global head of policy and government relations at Kraken, Jai Massari, chief legal officer at Lightspark, and Timothy Massad, a research fellow and director of <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">digital assets policy project<\/a> at Harvard University.<\/p>\n<p>Massad voiced some concerns with Lummis&rsquo;s current legislation, pointing out that it is softer than European regulations and a proposal in the House.&nbsp;He also said the bill does not address bankruptcy or apply to offshore issuers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He&nbsp;advised Congress to work on stablecoin legislation first and to defer considerations of market structure legislation for several years.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats could be headed toward a clash over cryptocurrency policy, as they face the Senate Banking Committee&rsquo;s most outspoken member on financial policy, ranking member Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Warren has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/crypto-industry-at-odds-over-how-to-influence-2024-election-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"... ... at odds over how to influence 2024 election ... Washington Examiner\">staunchly opposed industry-backed legislation<\/a> in the past and has pushed for a regulatory crackdown.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/foreign-policy\/3317887\/us-free-russian-cybermoney-launderer-exchange-marc-fogel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"US TO FREE RUSIAN CYBERMONEY LAUNDERER IN EXCHANGE FOR MARC FOGEL\">US TO FREE RUSIAN CYBERMONEY LAUNDERER IN EXCHANGE FOR MARC FOGEL<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>She continues to warn that the industry presents financial risks and has called for digital assets to be subject to more stringent anti-money laundering standards. However, a number of pro-crypto Democratic senators on the panel are beginning to signal they may be willing to support the legislation. Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) hopes to mark up Lummis&rsquo;s legislation in the near future, according to a source familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n<p>Crypto is used by a small fraction of the U.S. population. A Federal Reserve <a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalreserve.gov\/publications\/files\/2023-report-economic-well-being-us-households-202405.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">study released last year<\/a> found that only 7% bought or held crypto in 2023. However, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fdu.edu\/news\/fdu-poll-finds-trumps-embrace-of-crypto-pays-off\/\">some<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fdu.edu\/news\/fdu-poll-finds-trumps-embrace-of-crypto-pays-off\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"> <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fdu.edu\/news\/fdu-poll-finds-trumps-embrace-of-crypto-pays-off\/\">newer opinion polls<\/a> have seen more of an <a href=\"https:\/\/emersoncollegepolling.com\/december-2024-national-poll-young-voters-diverge-from-majority-on-crypto-tiktok-and-ceo-assassination\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">upward trend<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2021784\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2021784\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senate discusses bitcoin regulations at digital asset hearing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2657,"featured_media":2407226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Lummis-Crypto-scaled-1024x683.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[4254,51183,5270,3740],"class_list":["post-2407225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-bitcoin","tag-digital-assets","tag-regulation","tag-senate"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Lummis-Crypto-scaled-1024x683.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2407225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2657"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2407225"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2407225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2407229,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2407225\/revisions\/2407229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2407226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2407225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2407225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2407225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}