Kristin Smith thinks the industry has realized it needs to engage constructively in Washington, where partisan policymakers should also participate. While Sherman believes the SEC should regulate cryptocurrencies, Kirsten Gillibrand and Cynthia Lummis introduced legislation to treat them as commodities.

Californian Congressman Brad Sherman, a cryptocurrency skeptic, said the money and power behind the industry would prevent them from banning them now.

The Democratic Representative explained that they had not banned crypto because the money for lobbying and campaign contributions worked. He pointed out that they had not done it before as they did not realize its importance.

Sherman has consistently expressed concern about crypto assets to investors and the broader financial system, hoping that Congress can ban them. He commented last year that patriotic anarchists applauding tax evasion backed cryptocurrencies politically, which he hoped they would shut down.

Crypto Lobby Gets in Touch with Washington

In 2021, a local report revealed that the cryptocurrency industry would spend 2022 lobbying for legislative clarity in Congress.

Kristin Smith, the executive director of the Blockchain Association, thinks the industry has realized it needs to engage constructively in Washington. However, the crypto lobby also has to include partisan policymakers.

The position of Congressman Sherman contrasts with what Congressman Tom Emmer pushed in the bipartisan Blockchain Caucus. In December, he observed that cryptocurrency policy is not becoming partisan despite looking otherwise.

The Republican Representative stated that education is crucial to orange pilling, and the latest FSC crypto hearing reaffirmed that crypto is still non-partisan.

Divided Policymakers Stand in the Way of Bipartisan Cryptocurrency Policy

The contradictory position of policymakers is evident in how they want to see the regulation of the crypto sector. Representative Sherman considers that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) should regulate cryptocurrencies thanks to its experience. Meanwhile, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Cynthia Lummis introduced bipartisan legislation to treat those assets as commodities in June under the CFTC.

Congressman Sherman also views cryptocurrencies as a Ponzi scheme, arguing it is hard to run the investor protection subcommittee as people want to gamble. He said that crypto assets are meme coins investors buy, hoping to sell them to someone else before they run out.

The US House Oversight Committee Subcommittee on Consumer and Economic Policy also consulted regulators on how they would combat cryptocurrency fraud in the industry.

Sherman, who also chairs the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Investor Protection, will join the 2022 Crypto Policy Symposium.

The relevance of cryptocurrencies in the economic system has become increasingly evident among legislators in various countries. Many policymakers have made efforts to introduce new bills to regulate the industry, alleging that crypto assets pose risks to investors.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin is trading at around USD 19,778 and has accumulated a 0.6% gain over the last week. While its daily trading volume is above USD 23.62 billion, its market capitalization is about USD 378.59 billion, according to CoinGecko.

By Alexander Salazar

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