WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — Following the financial turmoil caused by the FTX crash, legislators from both parties are taking steps to strengthen regulations for cryptocurrency businesses.
“The industry is waiting for the dust to settle,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill, stated on the Senate floor. “Guess again.”
He mentioned the collapse of the FTX digital currency exchange, which cost investors billions of dollars, should prompt Congress to act.
“It is time to do the right thing and be honest about cryptocurrency,” Durbin said. “There should be more transparency, accountability, and enough regulations so that we know they are telling the truth.”
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, stated that he is ready to begin protecting consumers.
“I look forward to working with Republicans and Democrats in both the House and Senate, as well as our financial regulators, on comprehensive, bipartisan legislation that safeguards our financial system and puts consumers first.”
Senator Sherrod Brown
Similarly, Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich, the new chairman of the House Subcommittee on Financial Services, has expressed his interest in the matter.
“Both at the staff and member level, there have been some of those conversations,” Huizenga said.
He mentioned that he will be looking into having hearings on how the US Securities and Exchange Commission was unable to detect the rampant fraud within FTX. New rules will be drafted to help prevent such an incident from occurring again.
“Our aim should be to discover how we can safeguard investors while also protecting innovation,” he said. “That should be our goal.”
In the wake of Chapter FTX, the Biden Administration announced a new “road map to mitigate the risks of cryptocurrencies”. White House advisors are calling for Congress to increase the power of the SEC and safeguard customer pensions against market failure.
