Senate Hearing on Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency has been gaining in popularity over the past few years, prompting increased regulation and scrutiny from governments worldwide. This has led to a number of Senate hearings being held to discuss cryptocurrency regulations, taxation, and more.
In the United States, multiple Senate hearings have taken place discussing cryptocurrency-related issues. In 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) held a hearing with representatives from leading digital currency exchanges — including Coinbase, Circle Internet Financial Inc., Kraken FX LLC and others — to discuss potential oversight of the emerging asset class. The SEC’s chairwoman at the time called for “thoughtful regulation of virtual currencies” that would protect investors without stifling innovation or preventing people from using cryptocurrencies as an investment tool or payment method.
In 2019, Congress also held its own hearing on cryptocurrencies titled “Examining Regulatory Frameworks for Digital Currencies & Blockchain.” During this hearing senators discussed topics such as money laundering risks associated with digital currencies; the potential use case for blockchain technology; existing regulatory frameworks; tax implications; consumer protection concerns; privacy considerations; decentralized finance applications like stablecoins and non-fungible tokens (NFTs); crypto custody solutions ,and more .
The goal of these hearings is not only to explore how best to regulate cryptocurrency but also to understand its underlying technology better so that it can be used safely by consumers across all jurisdictions globally while still protecting their rights and interests as well as those of other stakeholders such as law enforcement agencies attempting investigate any suspicious activity related to illicit activities involving cryptocurrencies.
