By US Congress has explored the crypto space quite a bit in the last few months and this started with their summoning of Facebook to testify once the Libra white paper was released. This was in an effort to determine how the token would be regulated if it would break any laws and how the risk of money laundering could be mitigated. This was significant in that it brought cryptocurrency to the forefront of US regulatory bodies and signals a growing interest from Congress within that space.
Now it seems that Facebook will not be the only company that will be represented in Congress as Jeremy Allaire, the CEO, and co-founder of Circle, has been scheduled to testify before Congress on July 30, 2019, as a representative of the Blockchain Association, which is a business organization that comprises of blockchain industry advocates.
Preparing to Testify
The session will be called ‘Examining Regulatory Framework for Digital Currencies and blockchain’ and Allaire will be speaking on banking, housing, and urban affairs in this open session. According to his prepared testimony, he is prepared to touch on several topics such as identity, privacy, data security, domestic and international approaches to regulation and blockchain solutions for finance.
This mirrors several topics that were touched on during the Facebook hearing as there have been concerns about the implications of digital currencies for data privacy as well as how various countries and regions will navigate the regulation of these tokens.
Allaire has also been very vocal about the need for Congress to set up better regulations that relate to digital currencies.
“Congress should adopt national policies that define and establish digital assets as a new asset class and develop appropriate rules and exemptions for digital assets. This will require legislation that likely changes our existing commodities, securities, and banking laws, among others. Such policies should have the effect of enabling rapid technological progress within the context of sound risk management,” he said.
He has also stated that the US risks falling behind other countries in the world if they do not establish better laws in time as the industry is newly emerging and as such, companies and talents are moving towards places with better regulations such as a Malta and places in Europe. He further stated that the US will not become a leader in blockchain and cryptocurrency if they continue to lag behind in terms of regulations. Hopefully, this hearing who will serve as a launchpad for better regulations being put in place.
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