The U.S. Congress Democratic committee members are preparing to endorse the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) stringent regulation of digital assets in their efforts to assert control over the crypto industry.
A new memo pointing towards a hearing on digital assets regulation circulated among the Democrat committee, sparking reactions among top crypto leaders.
In a May 14 tweet, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson condemned the memo, urging Americans to consider it a top priority issue in the next presidential election. Hoskinson advised US citizens to become single-issue voters and support pro-digital asset candidates in the next election cycle.
Democrat Lawmakers And Their Anti-Crypto Position
The Cardano founder believes the memo suggests the US Democrats and the government are planning a major crackdown on digital assets.
In his tweet, Charles Hoskinson noted that the only way to prevent the government’s “regulatory madness on crypto is to prioritize it during the elections.” He urged crypto enthusiasts to vote for candidates who support pro-digital asset legislation.
His message comes in response to Eleanor Terrett’s tweet. According to Terrett, the memo urged Democrats of the House Committee on Financial Services to stick behind the SEC during the hearing.
This move implies that the SEC could gain full authority over digital asset oversight, expanding its “regulation by enforcement policy” on digital assets.
The memo further noted that nearly all cryptocurrencies are securities, and the problem of crypto regulation isn’t its ambiguity but “mass noncompliance.”
In addition, the memo called attention to Republican committee members advocating to slash the budget to financial regulators.
Also, the notice suggested that such Republicans are not “interested in protecting investor interests.” It recommended that the Democrats focus on approving a clean debt ceiling bill “instead of supporting pro-crypto legislation.”
The memo’s content sparked reactions among the crypto community, with over 900,000 people commenting on Eleanor Terrett’s tweet. Several crypto experts and industry leaders expressed concerns regarding the potential regulatory direction.
A respondent Jeff Beach frowned at the meme, noting that the move could drive the innovation away from the US.
Are There Still Pro-Digital Asset Democrat Lawmakers In The U.S?
Although most US Democrats are anti-crypto, the nascent industry still found a supporter among them. In March 2022, a prominent Democrat Senator, Ron Wyden, expressed his support for the industry.
The Senator told his colleagues to be careful while regulating cryptocurrencies, noting that crypto innovations have presented several opportunities for settling payments.
As a former pioneer of the US internet regulation, Wyden likened crypto to the early days of the internet. At the time, the government established legal protections to guard online platforms against lawsuits for public content published on them.
The Senator emphasized the need for legal protections similar to Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act for digital asset platforms.
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