US Congressman Hill Aims to Make America the Go-To Place for Blockchain Innovation
US Congressman French Hill aims to promote digital assets and blockchain technology in America by creating a favorable regulatory framework.
Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box on January 26, the chairman of the newly formed congressional subcommittee on digital assets said he plans to advocate a fair regulatory regime in order to make sure “America is the place for innovation in fintech and blockchain.”
“We want to make sure that America is the place for innovation in FinTech and blockchain and distributed ledger technology is part of that FinTech future,” he said in a subsequent tweet.
During his interview with CNBC, the congressman said Bitcoin is not fit to be used as a real-time payment method yet. However, he claimed that “we want to make sure that America is the place for innovation in fintech and blockchain is part of that future.”
Hill also weighed in on the possibility of approving a spot Bitcoin ETF, saying that the new subcommittee is exploring this option. The statement comes as the Securities and Exchange Commission has been very wary of a spot Bitcoin ETF, as the central bank has not shown the green light for such a product yet.
When asked whether he believes it is possible to make progress as long as the current SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who has been known for his anti-crypto stance, is in charge, the Congressman said they would use his expertise in the area. He said:
“So we’ll invite him up to Congress to tell us what he knows, what he recommends in this area, and what he was doing last year when we had so many challenges for our investors and consumers.”
The Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion subcommittee was formed earlier this month with the aim of “identifying best practices and policies that continue to strengthen diversity and inclusion in the digital asset ecosystem.”
Spearheaded by Hill, the subcommittee’s jurisdiction also includes providing clear rules for the digital asset ecosystem and developing policies that “promote financial technology to reach underserved communities,” the US House Committee on Financial Services said.
It is worth noting that crypto has some good friends within the US government. Just recently, State Senator Wendy Rogers proposed a new bill to make Bitcoin legal tender in the state of Arizona and allow state agencies to accept payment in the coin.
