The News
Rep. Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., the House Financial Services Committee’s whip, said Thursday that two major cryptocurrency bills should be “married up” together before they go to the House floor for a vote.
The House panel already advanced a stablecoin bill out of committee this month and held a hearing on market structure — with the goal of developing separate legislation that eliminates the legal and regulatory uncertainty for the digital assets sector.
Haridopolos made clear that the ultimate decision isn’t his but said he favors waiting to consider both of those crypto bills together, as their passage would create more certainty for businesses.
“The only way to really make that mesh together is have the market structure bill with it so those companies, the big and small alike, will know exactly what the rules are and aren’t and how they can operate best in the United States,” he said at Semafor’s World Economy Summit on Thursday.
The Senate Banking Committee has also passed its own version of stablecoin legislation, although it’s not clear when that bill will advance across the Capitol.
“We need to offer certainty and stability to the new emerging crypto or blockchain market that we’re all talking about in the Financial Services Committee,” Haridopolos said at the summit. “Because we’ve not offered stability, they’re going to places like UAE, Singapore, El Salvador.”
Know More
Haridopolos also revealed more details on where Financial Services panel Republicans plan should look for the up to $1 billion in savings that they’ve been asked to provide for the party’s forthcoming marquee tax bill. He said the GOP wants to see the cap on transfers from the Federal Reserve to CFPB cut from about 12% to 5%.
“The CFPB is a redundant system,” he said. “We have plenty of oversight on banks. There’s real competition among banks. If you don’t like your bank, there’s plenty of others to go to work with.”
Haridopolos also chairs the House Science Committee’s Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, and he called for the US to ramp up the space race against China.
“China being dominant in space is a great concern of ours. It is the ultimate high ground,” he said.