Cryptocurrency News: Executives Warn Congress Against 'Chilling Laws And Regulations'

Six executives at cryptocurrency firms testified Wednesday before the House Financial Services Committee and delivered warnings about regulating the digital currency and are seeking clearer rules.

The executives want Congress to tread lightly on imposing new rules or regulations on cryptocurrencies or risk sending activity further underground and outside U.S. borders. Rules that clarify the path ahead for crypto and other digital assets are fine, but any harsh rules will not discourage use but merely send it elsewhere.

In a pre-written testimony released Tuesday, Coinbase’s CEO Alesia Haas told Congress “Without tailored legislative solutions that are openly debated with public participation, the United States risks unnecessarily onerous and chilling laws and regulations . . . Customers will be driven to offshore platforms, as will victims.”

Many politicians seem to like crypto but are wary of its potential, especially where a lack of regulation is concerned. In October, former President Donald Trump went on the record for Yahoo! Finance stating that he was wary of crypto’s potential threat to the U.S. dollar.

“I'm a big fan of our currency . . . I don't want to have other currencies coming out and hurting or demeaning the dollar in any way,” Trump said.

Cryptocurrencies are often the subject of much controversy and debate.

On Wednesday, Bitcoin.com reported that billionaire Barry Sterinlicht said that bitcoin has the potential to reach $1 million. Meanwhile, billionaire investor Charlie Munger wishes cryptocurrencies had “never been invented” and declared that he would never buy one.

What is clear is that no one, not billionaires or world governments, can ignore the rise of cryptocurrencies.

Circle's CEO Jeremy Allaire made it clear in his pre-written testimony that “in a word, stablecoins and internet-native capital markets are not too big to fail, but they are now too big to ignore.”

Haas, Allaire, and Bitfury CEO Brian Brooks were among the top executives appearing before a U.S. congressional committee Wednesday.