Bloomberg Crypto News

Senate Panel Sets Sept. 15 Crypto Bill Hearing: Crypto in D.C.

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Bloomberg Government

Senate Panel Sets Sept. 15 Crypto Bill Hearing: Crypto in D.C.

By Se Young Lee / September 12, 2022 09:59AM ET / Bloomberg Government

Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Rostin Behnam and a Coinbase Global Inc. executive will appear at a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing this week to review bipartisan legislation that would give the CFTC sweeping new powers to oversee cryptocurrencies. 

The bill, introduced by Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow and Arkansas Republican John Boozman, comes as crypto executives lobby to curb the Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler’s influence over the industry following multiple high-profile clashes between top industry firms and the agency. 

Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr separately called on Congress to act on stablecoins legislation and clarify the authorities of various federal agencies on the digital assets. 

CHARTING CRYPTO

WEEKLY ROUNDUP FROM WASHINGTON

• Senators including Bob Menendez, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders wrote Meta Platforms Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg to ask about efforts to combat crypto scams on the firm’s various services

• Top Federal Reserve officials including Chair Jerome Powell renewed notes of caution on cryptocurrencies, noting risks from speculation the need for stronger guardrails while calling for clear legislative action for any digital dollar

  • The Fed’s review of a digital dollar is continuing, according to Powell, but the authority will not proceed without a specific law authorizing such an action

  • Fed Vice Chair Lael Brainard said separately that crypto faces the same risks as the normal financial system and reiterated the need for clear regulatory guardrails for the industry

• Coinbase Global, the biggest US crypto exchange, is backing a lawsuit against the US Treasury Department over its sanctions of coin mixer Tornado Cash

  • The department sanctioned Tornado of laundering more than $7 bbillion of cryptographies since its creation in 2019

• The environmental impact of producing cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin could impede US efforts to combat climate change, according to a report issued by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

  • The report says US now does 38% of the world’s Bitcoin mining, compared with 3.5% in 2020, and blockchains that support crypto assets now use more energy than many countries, including Argentina and Australia

• SEC Chief Gary Gensler repeated his demands that crypto exchanges, brokers and attorneys in the digital-coin industry comply with securities rules

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• Bankrupt Crypto Lender Voyager Digital Heads to Auction Block

• Thailand Files Police Complaint Against Crypto Exchange Zipmex

• A Look at the State of Crypto Regulation in Singapore

• RBI to Launch CBDC on a Pilot Basis This Year: Rabi Shankar

• Investor Who Made 1,700% on Mt. Gox Crash Circles Crypto Again

• Crypto Market Cap Sinks Below $1 Trillion, Bitcoin Near 2022 Low

To contact the reporter on this story:
Se Young Lee in Washington at vlee294@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Megan Howard at mhoward70@bloomberg.net
Se Young Lee