The United States House of Representatives Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry has just called for a congressional hearing on June 13 in an effort to discuss the future of 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.
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 the 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 stated after federal agencies in the US sued Coinbase and Binance.
She said that the SEC has failed to provide adequate legal guidance on what differentiates 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 Experts Voice Out Support Against SEC
Many in the crypto industry feel the SEC is going overboard with its regulatory war against 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.
Several industry figures are showing signs of frustration at the U.S. government and regulatory bodies like the SEC and CFTC for their lack of clear rules for the industry and its actions against digital currency firms. Earlier this year, Nicolas Cary, president of Blockchain.com slammed the SEC claiming the regulatory scrutiny on the crypto industry will have far-reaching consequences. 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 has 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.
