Regulation
Cryptocurrency roundtable with Biden adviser leaves industry members ‘bullish’
A crypto industry roundtable in Washington on Wednesday garnered mixed results from attendees, though at least one industry representative said Decrypt The group was much more “optimistic” after the discussion.
Yet those who thought the purpose of the crypto roundtable, hosted by Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA), was to signal that the Biden administration was not an enemy of crypto, appear unassuaged.
Other attendees, who viewed the meeting more as a listening session for Democratic Party elites, saw it as a genuine and potentially encouraging gesture by the White House to try to better understand the industry’s myriad frustrations.
“Several people told me they left the room feeling more optimistic than when they arrived,” said one crypto industry participant at the roundtable who asked not to be named. Decrypt.
“I would say it was a successful meeting,” they continued. “People were frank. No one on the industry side hesitated.”
Ahead of Wednesday morning’s meeting, there was some speculation as to whether the White House would send a representative to attend. Some invited members of the crypto industry decided to abandon the roundtable altogether after learning that top Biden officials would not be attending.
One of these guests said: Decrypt They were informed that several prominent White House staffers, including Biden’s chief of staff, Jeff Zients – who had been tipped as potential attendees – would not be coming due to scheduling conflicts.
But one of Biden’s goals closest advisorsAnita Dunn ultimately attended the roundtable. Although Dunn came in her personal capacity and not to represent the president’s administration, another source familiar with the matter said DecryptSome attendees saw Dunn’s presence as impactful, given his reputation as one of the few members of Biden’s inner circle who to his ear.
“You could have had 15 people there who were junior to Anita, it wouldn’t have been as powerful as having Anita there,” the crypto industry participant added.
No other White House officials attended the roundtable. Of the 27 participants in the meeting, the overwhelming majority were crypto industry executives and lobbyists. The only political participants, besides Khanna and Dunn, was Sen. Kristin Gillibrand (D-NY), already known as a prominent figure in the industry. cryptography advocateand Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO).
Industry participants included Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, Galaxy CEO Mike Novogratz, BitGo CEO Mike Belshe, Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal, and Mike Brock, one of The Block’s top crypto executives. Mark Cuban and Anthony Scaramucci were also in attendance.
While today’s meeting offered a glimmer of hope that the Biden administration is interested in a more fluid dialogue with crypto executives, it by no means established any sort of narrative that the White House is a friend of the industry.
Over the past two months, Biden has veto A widely popular bipartisan effort to allow U.S. banks to hold cryptocurrencies clashes with another bipartisan effort Cryptography Regulatory Frameworkand continued to support the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) aggressively anti-crypto stance.
Republicans, on the other hand, have recently embraced crypto wholeheartedly. On Monday, they adopted a proposed party platform that mentioned cryptoa first for a major American political party.
Hours after Khanna’s crypto roundtable ended on Wednesday, the House is ready to vote on overriding President Biden’s veto of a bipartisan repeal of SAB 121. The override, which would require a two-thirds supermajority first in the House and then the Senate, would allow traditional U.S. banks to hold cryptocurrencies, something the SEC has banned.
Edited by Andre Hayward