The crypto community is reeling after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed two major lawsuits this week against Binance Holdings Ltd. and Coinbase Global Inc. COIN, -2.95% that could threaten the business models of two of the world’s largest digital asset exchanges.
Ryan Selkis, the founder and CEO of Messari, a crypto analytics firm tweeted Thursday , “If you saw what I see in DC, you’d see a path to total victory for crypto in the U.S.”Most crypto boosters are placing their hopes in a draft discussion bill recently unveiled by Republican Reps. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina and Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania, Chairmen of the Financial Services and Agriculture Committees, respectively.
These lawmakers are in a good position as heads of the relevant committees to get their bill to the floor of the House, and with Republican control of the chamber, have it passed and sent to the Senate.The bill’s chances in a Democratic Senate face tall odds, however, given the lack of interest shown for a new crypto regulatory framework by the Democratic Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, according to Owen Tedford, analyst at Beacon Policy Advisors.
There are a handful of Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee that have indicated support for a new regulatory framework, including Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York and Rep. Wiley Nickel, a freshman Democrat from North Carolina.“We do not need to create an entirely new and special framework for crypto,” Rep. Maxine Waters of California, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee said in an April hearing.
“We have a financial system that is the envy of the world because of the protections we provide to investors and I think this bill would undermine that in a serious way.”