\u201cSome of my colleagues have suggested somehow pausing cryptocurrency before we pass legislation. This is a profoundly misguided not to mention impossible idea. Short of enacting draconian authoritarian policies, cryptocurrency cannot be stopped.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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Law professor Hilary Allen, one of the crypto skeptics appearing as a witness at the hearing, argued that Bankman-Fried had been lobbying hard to have regulations favorable to his firm under the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC. Hollywood star Ben McKenzie, who also testified at the hearing, said cryptocurrencies qualified as securities under the Securities and Exchange Commission\u2019s regulatory umbrella.<\/p>\n
\u201cSam Bankman-Fried and the rest of the crypto industry weren\u2019t looking for [regulatory] clarity on the current law,\u201d said Allen. \u201cThey were looking for changes in the law that would accommodate the industry. In particular, they wanted to be regulated by the CFTC, and not the SEC. I respectfully submit that Congress should not adopt legislation to that end.\u201d<\/p>\n
Different lawmakers proposed alternative legislation aimed at regulating certain parts of the crypto space \u2014 though none appeared to stem from the events at FTX. Senator Toomey suggested beginning regulation with stablecoins, pointing to a framework he introduced in April as well as a bill from Senator Cynthia Lummis and SenatoKirsten Gillibrand in June. <\/p>\n
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a well known skeptic of cryptocurrencies in Congress, used her time to push associations between digital assets and the financing of terrorism and ransomware payments. Together with Senator Roger Marshall, she introduced a bill requiring additional Anti-Money Laundering, or AML, policies for money service businesses as well as setting up AML rules and review processes at the Treasury Department, SEC, and CFTC.<\/p>\n