, executives leading some of the world's biggest crypto companies indicated in prepared testimony they generally support clearer rules. But they emphasized that overly restrictive ones would not stifle the activity, but merely push it away from U.S. reach.
Representative Maxine Waters, the Democrat who chairs the panel, said there are "several questions" about the need for new rules for crypto, and also highlighted concerns about significant energy usage to mine and trade cryptocurrency. "We should embrace it, we should understand it, and we should be international leaders in this space," he said.The rapid growth of cryptocurrency, and in particular "stablecoins," which are digital assets whose value is pegged to traditional currencies, has caught the attention of regulators, who fear they could put the financial system at risk if not properly monitored.
Executives said they would welcome regulatory clarity, but that overly restrictive rules could prove counterproductive.