The Chamber of Progress has urged President Biden to voice support for crypto regulation before the U.S. election.
The center-left tech policy coalition said former President Donald Trump has capitalized on the administration’s lack of clarity, but Biden “can still win this issue.”
U.S. tech industry group the Chamber of Progress has urged President Joe Biden to voice support for comprehensive crypto regulation, saying Republican rival Donald Trump has capitalized on the administration’s lack of clarity.
Biden’s support for a “crypto-positive” digital assets agenda would provide his administration with a chance to lead on an issue young voters identify with, Chamber of Progress Director of Financial Policy Kyle Bligen wrote in a letter to the President on Tuesday.
For the millions of Americans currently holding or trading cryptocurrency, passing bipartisan digital asset regulations is “front and center this cycle,” Bligen said. “Overwhelmingly, this is an issue important to Gen Z and Millennial voters, with over 50 percent of those age groups supporting a federal policy that encourages digital asset use in the U.S.”
“Becoming the first president to set a clear path forward for digital assets in the U.S. is a pivotal opportunity for this administration,” Bligen added.
The Chamber of Progress is a center-left tech industry policy coalition that promotes progressive policies and aims to ensure that technological advancements benefit all Americans. It is funded by major tech companies like Amazon, Google and Facebook, among others, and focuses on issues such as voting rights, fair marketplaces and progressive taxation.
However, Bligen was critical of regulatory uncertainty surrounding the crypto industry under Biden’s administration, saying it harms investors and stifles American innovation.
“Under the Biden Administration, consumers have suffered through a period of regulatory uncertainty that has devalued the digital assets they hold and limited their utility,” Bligen wrote.
The Chamber of Progress Director of Financial Policy pointed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler’s view that the Securities Exchange Act of 1933, 1934 and the Howey test remain sufficient to regulate digital assets, despite multiple courts having “rejected his position,” adding to regulatory ambiguity.
Bligen also criticized Biden’s veto in May on a bipartisan resolution to overturn the SEC’s Staff Accounting Bulletin 121, also known as SAB 121, which could prevent banks from safeguarding digital assets, as well as the White House’s opposition to the passage of the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, also known as FIT21, proposing a joint SEC-CFTC crypto rulemaking regime.
Trump capitalizes on lack of clarity
Former President Donald Trump has capitalized on the administration’s lack of clarity, according to Bligen, by reversing his position on cryptocurrency and portraying Biden as “an opponent of American technological leadership and economic progress.”