Dean Phillips, a member of the US House of Representatives running against Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination in the 2024 presidential election, said there are currently “very few” people in Congress who understand digital assets.
Speaking at the crypto Presidential Forum in New Hampshire on December 11, Phillips saying He did not “know everything” about financial technology and cryptocurrencies, but criticized US President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump for their positions. The US lawmaker was the third presidential candidate to address the New Hampshire crowd after Republicans Vivek Ramaswamy and Asa Hutchinson.
“The two leading candidates right now, on both the left and the right, for the presidency of the United States are not at all in a position to understand it, prepare for it, anticipate it and guide us into the next century,” Phillips said, referring to crypto. . “Joe Biden and Donald Trump, at their age and stage of life, are simply not the right people to lead us forward.”
He added:
“It's not irresponsible or unreasonable to think that your government would do two things at once: both consider regulations but at the same time consider how positively transformative they can be.”
Phillips said he had never personally invested in digital assets such as bitcoin (btc) or non-fungible tokens (nft), adding that any potential investment he might make would be in a blind trust and citing conflicts of interest in his role as a legislator. Members of Congress must disclose investments, including those involving digital currency, but there are no significant consequences for lawmakers who delay filing.
Related: US crypto Firms Spent More on Lobbying in 2023 Than Before FTX Collapse: Report
At press time, all presidential candidates who spoke at the crypto Presidential Forum were trailing President Biden and Trump by more than double digits, respectively, according to many polls. Ramaswamy has been one of the most outspoken Republicans on digital assets, launching a policy platform focused on cryptocurrencies at the North American Blockchain Summit in November.
While the Trump campaign has delved into aspects of the digital asset space (selling its own line of NFTs), the former president has rarely spoken publicly about cryptocurrencies. President Biden issued an executive order in 2022 to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets. Under the Biden administration, Justice Department officials charged former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, and former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky.
Phillips suggested that dysfunction within Congress had contributed to cryptocurrency bills not becoming law, including the Financial Innovation and technology for the 21st Century Act, or FIT21. The bill, among others, has yet to receive a full vote in the House following potential government shutdowns and Republican lawmakers delaying electing a new House speaker.
Magazine: Lawmakers' fear and doubts drive proposed US crypto regulations
