- Sponsors of bipartisan bill in US House differ on crypto, Politico reports.
- They agree lawmakers should be banned from stock trading.
- Trading crypto holdings becomes an issue to be worked out.
Whether a bipartisan bill to restrict lawmakers’ stock trading should also apply to their crypto holdings is a question that has divided the two sponsors of the House of Representatives’ stock-ban legislation, Politico reported.
Representatives Abigail Spanberger, a Virginia Democrat, and Chip Roy, a Texas Republican, are leading the charge on the bill that would require stocks to be placed into blind trusts so lawmakers could not trade on privileged information, the report said.
Still, while Spanberger wants crypto to be treated like stocks, Roy is not so sure.
“It’s a little different,” Roy told Politico. “Because allowing people to hedge against the dollar that’s getting destroyed on a regular basis, I’m not sure if I want to completely preclude people’s ability to do that.”
Spanberger maintains that stocks and crypto are similar in that their value can be influenced by lawmakers.
Their conflict is the most recent indicator of the nascent crypto industry’s rising profile in Washington, along with a war chest exceeding $100 million to back the election of crypto-friendly politicians who could potentially help create a more favourable regulatory environment.
It may also be a timely debate as last month the House passed landmark crypto bill FIT21 — which would create a more defined crypto regulatory market — on a bipartisan vote as digital assets become increasingly political just months ahead of the November presidential election.
Spanberger and Roy both supported the bill.
Political alliance Stand With Crypto gives both an A grade for strongly supporting the industry.
Stay tuned as they try to work out what Politico termed a “crypto conundrum.”
Crypto market movers
- Bitcoin is down 0.12% today at $64,357.48.
- Ethereum is up 0.47% today at $3,508.25.
What we are reading
Bitcoin price drop and crypto market turmoil intensifies — Is Germany to blame? — Cointelegraph
The real Bitcoin fallout will soon ‘be obvious’ after Fed sparks $620m in ETF outflows — DL News
Winklevoss twins receive refund of over $300k from Trump’s campaign — CryptoSlate