Bitcoin 2024 – Trump
The final day of Bitcoin 2024 featuring former President Donald Trump did not disappoint the 3,000 Bitcoin faithful gathered in Nashville, Tennessee.
Trump’s speech was unthinkable even a year ago: a major party presidential candidate spoke at length and in detail about topics that matter to even the most hardcore of the crypto community.
At one point, with the crowd already on its feet President Trump declared about the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler, “On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler….”
A deafening roar from the audience followed.
Trump ate it up and continued, “…. I didn’t know he was that unpopular. Let me say it again: on day one, I will fire Gary Gensler. … I will appoint a new SEC chairman who believes America should build the future, not block the future.
Among other statements by the former President besides firing the SEC Chair…:
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- He promised to shutdown ChokePoint 2.0.
- Advocated for the right of self-custody.
- Strongly supported the mining of Bitcoin in the U.S.
- Expressed support for the expansion of the use of stablecoins.
- Pledged to keep (“hodl“) the U.S. government’s current and future hoard of Bitcoin (for example, Bitcoin confiscated in criminal cases). He called it a “strategic national Bitcoin reserve.”
- Announced he’d create “a bitcoin and crypto presidential advisory council.” (Editor’s note: can’t imagine the elbows that will be flying trying to get on that if Trump becomes president.)
The former President also drew partisan lines in the crypto debate saying of the presumed Democratic presidential nominee VP Kamala Harris: “She’s against crypto, by the way, and she’s against it very big. You gotta get out and vote.”
Read more in CoinDesk and The Tennesseean.
what you should know: President Trump’s flipflop from crypto skeptic during his previous administration to the “crypto president” is now well-chronicled. Even Rep. Wiley Nickel (D, NC), who made the Dem case at Bitcoin 2024, bravely noted the flipflop on stage to a round of boos at the conference. Undeniable is that Trump has staked some enviable high ground in the politically-energetic crypto community.
Bitcoin 2024 – strategic reserve
Senator Cynthia Lummis (R, WY) brought her well-tested, Congressional crypto platform to Nashville and was received warmly by the audience at Bitcoin 2024.
The Senator spoke Friday alongside Senator Tim Scott (R, SC), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Committee. The Senators expressed support for the Bitcoin faithful and that a Republican sweep of Congress in November would greatly help expedite legislation creating a crypto regulatory framework in The United States. Read more in Blockworks.
On Saturday, Senator Lummis took to the stage again and announced new legislation which would authorize the U.S. Treasury to buy 1 million Bitcoin (currently worth approximately $69 billion) and create a strategic reserve for the U.S. She said to the audience (view on X) that a Bitcoin strategic reserve would help solidify the U.S. Dollar as the world’s reserve currency and could cut the Federal budget deficit in half by 2045. Read more in The Block.
more tips:
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- Lummis Announces Revolutionary Proposal to Supercharge the U.S. dollar, Bolster U.S. Economy – lummis.senate.gov
what you should know: This will be introduced in the 118th Congress. But this is 119th Congress legislation – and will likely only succeed in a Republican-controlled Congress.
Dem ‘reset’ positioning
Meanwhile, over the weekend, Democrats were busy with “the reset.”
The Financial Times cited unnamed sources in or near the office of VP Kamala Harris, and said the presidential candidate is looking for a “reset” with the crypto community.
The FT says the reset has “little to do with attracting new electoral contributions” but, instead, “to build a constructive relationship that would ultimately set a smart regulatory framework that would help the growth of the entire asset class.” Read more.
what you should know: VP Harris’ campaign appears to be in a honeymoon phase with the press and at least a segment of the crypto community (e.g. Mark Cuban). But, it’s unclear how crypto interests/voters will ultimately take this as anything more than hand-waving by Dem leaders unless something substantive happens before the election.
An “easy” first step would be for the SEC to pull SAB 121. After all, and as has been reported, the SEC is already working on a one-off basis with traditional finance to get into compliance and, arguably, get around the rule.
Dem reset – letter
A letter sent on Friday by a collection of 28 Democratic Members of Congress and candidates for Congress – including Reps. Wiley Nickel (D, NC), Josh Gottheimer (D, NJ) and Ritchie Torres (D, NY) – asked that Dem party leadership consider inserting a more innovation-friendly – or pro-crypto – stance into the party’s platform which will be revealed in advance of the upcoming Democratic National Convention in August.
Among the requests by the signers is replacement of the Securities and Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler with someone more innovation-friendly.
See the letter via Uniswap Labs CEO Hayden Adams on X.
what you should know: Also, the group wants a crypto-friendly VP candidate from Dems. Pundits might argue that such a VP candidate is going to need to bring a swing state victory with them.
Dem reset – California
The battle for the crypto soul of presidential candidate VP Kamala Harris gets coverage in Politico’s “Morning Money” newsletter last Friday. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D, NJ), who has appeared to be a crypto advocate, says about the VP, ” I’m hopeful… I think she understands the space, being from California.”
Politico reports, “Now with the campaign undergoing a big reset, crypto-friendly Democrats are hopeful that Harris will usher in a softer approach. Though she hasn’t taken a position on digital asset regulation as VP, crypto advocates point to her age and roots in tech-friendly California as reason to be optimistic.” Read more.
more tips:
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- Kamala Harris‘ team wants to take a position on crypto, source says, as outreach to the industry forges on – The Block
Dem reset – Khanna roundtable 2
Rep. Ro Khanna (D, CA) continues to make his case for Democratic Party interest in the growth of the digital assets industry in the United States.
On Laura Shin’s Unchained podcast published on Friday, Rep. Khanna said he’s thinking about another blockchain roundtable:
“…I led a roundtable with Anita Dunn, the senior policy adviser for President Biden, and with Mark Cuban, Mike Novogratz and those at Andreesen-Horowitz and other technology companies. And I’m now working to have a follow-up discussion including with the Vice President’s office. We are going to make a case that Bitcoin, and cryptocurrencies, more generally, are decentralizing, are helping make payments faster and cheaper, and that we need to be the party of decentralization and innovation…”
Rep. Khanna describes the Biden Administration’s reception to his position as “open to listening to the next generation of Democrats.”
what you should know: Rep. Khanna has changed his tune from his original vote against the House’s SAB 121 resolution in early May. He’s voted for FIT 21 and for an override of the President’s veto of the House SAB 121 resolution.
Rep. Sherman is worried
Speaking to his Democratic colleagues from the House Floor last Thursday, California congressman and crypto gadfly Rep. Brad Sherman (D) revealed his concerns about the digital assets industry potential influence upon the newly-appointed Democratic presidential nominee VP Kamala Harris and Dem leadership.
According to the Congressional record, Rep. Sherman said:
“Some consultants have come to Vice President Harris–and thank God she has not yet taken the suggestion of these consultants–and told her to go to Bitcoin 2024 Nashville, and there will be hundreds of millions of dollars for her campaign.”
“Why do these bitcoin bros have so much money? Well, they are in the business of making money. Everybody else in business has to actually make a product and sell it to get money. With crypto, you just call it a currency, and it is money, and you make sure you have a billion coins for yourself before you sell the rest.”
“There are those in the Harris campaign or some outside the Harris campaign who will tell the Harris campaign, hey, the political thing to do is to get money from the crypto billionaires. The fact is that is not the case.”
Read more from his speech last Thursday.
Or, watch the video on the Clerk’s website (begins at approximately 3:56:00).
what you should know: Rep. Sherman’s own position is no surprise. What is illuminating is that the Congressman acknowledges that a tide is turning -or trying to – within his caucus. There are “those” within the circle of Democratic leadership that are leaning toward digital assets.
wen markup
The oft-discussed markup of the digital assets legislative effort known unofficially as the “Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act 2.0” (DCCPA 2.0) and led by Senate Agriculture Chair Debbie Stabenow (D, MI) may be hitting the skids.
Punchbowl News’ Brendan Pedersen reported on X on Friday, “There’s serious doubt that the Senate Agriculture Committee will host a markup of market structure legislation next week. Four sources on and around the committee tell me it’s unlikely to happen at this point. Committee has been aiming for a 7/31 bipartisan markup.” See the tweet.
what you should know: For Democrats seeking to change the narrative around crypto and their party, the failure to deliver a markup after weeks of leaks and tips in the media won’t help create any trust with the digital assets community.
Choke Point 2.0 complete?
On Friday, the Federal Reserve Board announced “termination of enforcement action with Silvergate Bank and its holding company, Silvergate Capital Corporation.” The Fed states that Silvergate – a former key on/off-ramp for crypto funds in the United States – “no longer functions as a bank.”
Read a bit more on FederalReserve.gov.
what you should know: With the dissolution of Silvergate Capital and Signature Bank during March 2023’s banking crisis, many have questioned whether these two actions were “signature” moves of a Choke Point-like operation meant to stop the crypto industry in the United States. Former Congressman Barney Frank (D, MA) of Dodd-Frank fame and a Signature Bank Board member said at the time, “I think part of what happened was that regulators wanted to send a very strong anti-crypto message.”
new co-sponsors
Rep. Mike Flood’s (R, NE) “Uniform Treatment of Custodial Assets Act” [H.R.5741] has picked up yet another Democratic co-sponsor. Rep. Yadira Caraveo (D, CO) has joined the bill as of Thursday.
Rep. Flood’s bill is one of three efforts currently bubbling in Congress to rescind the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Staff Acccounting Bulletin 121 (SAB 121).
Rep. Caraveo is no stranger to digital assets.
As the Ranking Member on House Agriculture’s digital assets subcommittee in the 118th Congress, she has supported the House resolution to rescind SAB 121 as well as the override of the President’s veto of the resolution. Rep. Caraveo also supported the “Financial Innovation and Technology Act for the 21st Century” (FIT 21), which she also had a hand in on her House Ag subcommittee.
what you should know: Currently, there are 20 total co-sponsors of Republican Rep. Flood’s bill. 14 of the co-sponsors are Democrat. The motivation for each Democrat could potentially range among… (1) support for digital assets and its regulation within the United States, (2) a desire for crypto industry campaign funds and finally, (3) not wanting the crypto industry to support the other candidate in the Member’s race in November.
CFTC digital assets oversight
At a House Agriculture hearing last Thursday with stakeholders on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) reauthorization (funding), the ability of the CFTC to oversee spot commodity markets was the subject of some Q&A sparring.
Locking horns were House Ag digital assets subcommittee Chair Dusty Johnson (R, SC) and Center for American Progress senior director Alexandra Thornton, who has advocated against the CFTC and for SEC oversight over digital commodity spot markets
In previous Congressional hearings, CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam has consistently advocated for digital asset spot market oversight beginning with Bitcoin and Ethereum.
An edited excerpt from the hearing…
Chair Dusty Johnson: When we look at Bitcoin, have there been any courts that have held Bitcoin as a security?
Alexandra Thornton: No.
Chair Johnson: Has the SEC ever asserted jurisdiction over Bitcoin?
Ms. Thornton: I don’t believe so.
Chair Johnson: Do you know what volume of digital assets trading Bitcoin constitutes?
Ms. Thornton: Roughly 90%. But, there are hundreds of other tokens-
Chair Johnson: (interrups) There are… Of those hundreds of other tokens that are not generally considered to be commodities, would “FIT 21” continue to place the jurisdiction of those other tokens with the SEC?
Ms. Thornton: I think the problem with FIT 21 is it’s a way of resolving the jurisdiction between the CFTC and the SEC so that it makes no difference what the SEC thinks because by the time it weighs in, the tokens are already being traded on the spot market and the CFTC has to unwind something… and there are hundreds of other tokens…
Chair Johnson: Ma’am, I just don’t think that’s an accurate description. And, in fact, alleging that the creation of this brand new regime is problematic is just not consistent with the facts on the record. What we know now is by your own answers, the CFTC already has a robust role in this arena.
See video of the exchange here.
still more tips
Talking Fintech Oversight; SEC Urged to Bar Penny Stock Listings on Exchanges; Senate Panel Returns to Big Bank Bashing – Capitol Account
Memecoins, Cryptocurrencies Based On Internet Memes, Roar – The New York Times
Tokenized Assets (May 20) – Congressional Research Service