Minnesota U. S. Rep. Tom Emmer still a crypto booster says Congress needs to step up oversight of

Minnesota U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, still a crypto booster, says Congress needs to step up oversight of regulators

The collapse of FTX, an influential industry, has presented Congress with a difficult challenge.

With Mike Hewlett

January 28, 2023 11:48 PM

Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, January 25. (Andrew Harnik, Associated Press/The Minnesota Star Tribune).

The collapse of the cryptocurrency industry has seen the collapse of some of its most prominent companies, but Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer's faith in private digital currencies has not wavered.

"I still believe there is a future for digital assets, and this future is already happening," said the Delino Republican, one of cryptocurrency's biggest supporters in Congress and the third-ranking Republican in the House.

But the collapse of FTX-trade has sparked new tensions in Congress and Washington over how to handle the industry without a clear consensus on decision-making.

In an interview with the Star Tribune, Emmer focused on Congress' role in overseeing regulators, rather than passing laws on cryptocurrency regulation.

"Congress should get to work to ensure that regulators do their job through their oversight function," he said.

Emmer has been highly critical of the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) approach to the crypto industry, calling the commission inefficient and opaque and calling for Chairman Gary Gensler to appear before Congress.

A clash in Congress seems more likely than passage of a major bill to resolve many of the ambiguities in cryptocurrency regulation. Whatever happens in Congress, Emmer is likely to have a significant say.

And in his new leadership position as House majority whip after four years of leadership, after a split in the House, Emmer will have more opportunities to work on legislation. Rep. Patrick McHenry, an ally of Rep. Patrick McHenry (D., N. C.), leads the House Financial Services Group.

The cryptocurrency reckoning is complicated by serious political realities. Republicans have a slight advantage in the U. S. House of Representatives, while Democrats lead the Senate and control the White House, and the complex nature of cryptocurrencies poses unique problems if Congress decides to take a closer look at them.

"In Congress, for example, many members who have the skills and awareness necessary for the cryptocurrency market and their dynamics are effectively affected by data effectively by effectively involved in data. "Din Philips (Demand, Democratic Party, Minnesota) stated.

Cryptocurrency is a digital asset formed by a distributed computer network. As the price of cryptocurrencies increased, industry officials have increased their own lobby activities and donations to election campaigns.

The collapse of FTX, one of the huge cryptocurrency exchanges, was even more unpleasant from Congress. FTX c o-founder Samuel Bankman Fried and other members had a large political donation before the bankruptcy.

It is a young industry but is growing

The cryptocurrency speculator rampage and lost the nation. However, the introduction of daily transactions is still limited.

According to cryptocurrency supporters, thanks to the distributed economic system released from the intervention of central banks and paid banks, traders' ownership has been protected.

Underlying, there is a "blockchain", a digital development designed to guarantee the safety and anonymity of transactions.

According to skepticisms, cryptocurrency is an economic environment for cyber criminals, and no n-educated issues resemble a rat course. Apart from this, the industry is actually consuming a lot of power to ensure automatic mining of coins.

There is one thing that can be literally explained. The cryptocurrency, which is a fresh monetary asset, has questioned how to regulate it, following its footprint.

The market price of cryptocurrencies has risen to $ 3 trillion, and small traders have also participated in hedge funds, along with hedge funds that have been burning last year due to the crash of cryptocurrency. Last summer, a large number of cryptocurrenc y-related companies applied for bankruptcy and reached the peak in November.

FTX also lacked simple internal control and accounting. The buyer interrupts $ 1 billion, and Bankma n-Frida is threatened by fraud and the federal government of money laundering.

After the failure of FTX, the legislation of cryptocurrencies in Congress may be difficult. Last year, the two bills of a party that showed a normative basis but were not accepted as a result were supported by the encryption industry.

Hillary Allen, who is skeptical of the cas h-rules of the Faculty of Law at the Southern American Research Institute in Washington, this year, "The Democratic Party may go to the approval of a friendly cryptocurrency from the law. It is extremely low. " "

According to his writing, what is more likely than passing the bill is "a breakup in the House of Representatives Financial Proposals Committee over the prelude of more brutal Sec action."

Last month, Emmer wrote on Twitter that Hensler should actually "lecture Congress and answer questions about the price of regulatory failure."

The debate over adaptation rages

Emmer has long been critical of the SEC's adaptation to the crypto industry. FTX's troubles gave him further impetus.

"SEC head Gary Gensler has the wherewithal to defend traders in cases like this," he said.

"Gary Gensler's coordination strategy has proven to be completely ineffective.

The SEC, which adamantly abandoned the statement, has since come under criticism from almost every direction.

At least Allen believes that the SEC had the opportunity to be bolder, but was "one of the toughest crypto regulators."

"Many regulators and lawmakers have been getting elusive statements about the innovation, performance, and economic accessibility of the crypto industry. The SEC, led by Henssler, did not get these statements for clean currencies.

To the great displeasure of the crypto industry, Henssler expressed his intention to evaluate cryptocurrencies as securities, except for Bitcoin. According to the agency's website, the SEC's detachment involved in cryptocurrencies has filed more than 90 enforcement requests against cryptocurrency companies for alleged violations.

In March 2022, eight bipartisan House members associated with Rep. Emmer sent a message to Rep. Hessler about the SEC's investigation into cryptocurrency and blockchain companies, especially the issue of infas requested by the SEC.

Members of the House of Adepts said the SEC's requirements may not be in compliance with the law when cutting cardboard jobs that set out procedures for collecting federal agencies' infas from the public.

Emmer said the SEC In response to a question about whether his position is inconsistent with his message criticizing the FTX as a weak organization, he said his position is "completely consistent."

Hensler chose a "non-transparent" adjustment method, Emmer said. This is linked to the fact that "several branches come to his office and agree on the merits of adjustment in return for trusting an honest process of adopting rules," he said, citing meetings of FTX leaders Hensler, Fleet, Bankman and others in October 2021 and March 2022.

Asked about his March meeting with Bankman-Frieda in an interview with Yahoo Finance, Hensler said the SEC usually confronts "market participants" and that the "main message" was "get in line."

Hensler is not alone among regulators who have met with Bankman-Frieda and FTX leaders.

Rostin Bekhn, head of U. S. commercial exchange futures, told a Senate committee in December that he and other CFTC advocates met with Bankman-Frieda 10-14 months before FTX's pre-emption of LedgerX, which is involved in crypto derivatives, yet still assists in solvency.

The CFTC owns some of the ability to regulate cryptocurrencies. Emmer criticized Behnam for not nitpicking bankers, saying, "CFTC heads did not negotiate regulatory advantages for FTX."

Issues

Emmer's positions on cryptocurrencies have led him to disagree with some Democratic lawmakers.

"Republicans in the House of Representatives are also poised to blame the Biden administration for weak oversight. But I see this funny when, on the other hand, they advocated for a pretty low adjustment before the FTX fall," said Senator Tina Smith (Minnesota).

Before the FTX failure, some fellow Smiths, a number of Democrats joined the Republicans in supporting legislation that critics called the Flexible Layout for Accommodation.

The crypto industry has distributed campaign funds to both parties. But while Bankman Fried was a concentrated donor to the Democratic Party, it still made donations in favor of the Republican Party, headed by Emma Mer, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).

The campaign of Democratic Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota received funds from Bankman Fried and Nishad Singh, the engineering director of FTX.

A representative for Smith said the contributions wired by Bankman-Fried and Shin Democrat, as well as another prominent FTX affiliate, were reversed in case they could be returned.

Emmer did not receive any contributions from Bankman-Fried, but his campaign received money from two other members of the FTX empire, including FTX Digital Markets co-general director Ryan Salama. Salama is a major Republican donor who still allocates money to the NRCC.

Emmer's campaign did not comment on the FTX donations. Republican Brad Feinstadt raised money for Salam's campaign, but FTX failed in late November.

Another offshoot of Emmer's campaign and his political activity was still several thousand dollars from the Blockchain Association's crypto lobbyist's favored 1st, in line with federal documents. His campaign still received donations from favored names of companies that are heavily invested in cryptocurrencies (Digital Currency Group, Andreessen Horowitz, Blockchain Capital).

"I believed in the technology even before cryptocurrency became mainstream. It's very important to me that this issue not be hindered by the perception of personal gain, which is why I decided after many years not to acquire cryptocurrency."

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Elim Poon - Journalist, Creative Writer

Last modified: 27.08.2024

The U.S. House of Representatives on May 23 voted to approve legislation proposed by Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) that would prohibit the Federal. Part III explains what the various federal agencies have done to regulate cryptocurrencies in the absence of more suitable legislative guidance. Part IV looks. Scalise also has support within his and McCarthy's wing of the party. The third-ranking House Republican, Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota.

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