The event is already remembered for some important statements. For example, FTX exchange chief Sam Bankman-Fried told government members that “the global financial system is not suitable for sending money to their loved ones around the world. Cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, don’t have that problem, which means digital assets really can improve many people’s lives.

Here is a recording of the beginning of Sam’s speech. We recommend reading it if you can hear the English language.

How do politicians feel about crypto?

Recall that cryptocurrencies have been discussed quite often in the US government before – particularly at congressional meetings as well. However, if earlier mood at such events was generally negative mainly because of suspicions about risk of cryptoindustry impact on economy, now politicians have more interest in perspectives of decentralized projects based on digital assets.

US Congress

A prime example of this was a statement by Congressman Anthony Gonzalez. According to him, Web 3.0 - that is, a new internet based on decentralised protocols - could give people many useful innovations and provide a more inclusive service for their financial needs. To do so, however, the US government needs to be smart about regulating the cryptosphere.

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried on the floor of Congress

Crypto platform executives invited to the meeting agreed with the statement. They asked congressmen to develop a more acceptable infrastructure for financial regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as well as give big cryptocurrencies a chance to get into the banking sector.

Committee members and invited CEOs of cryptocurrency companies concluded that if other countries allow innovation on their soil, then America has no reason to oppose progress. Here’s a quote from Congressman Brian Steil on the subject, in which he shares his perspective on what’s happening. The quote is quoted by Decrypt.

If a huge number of consumers want to buy Bitcoin ETFs, why should we prohibit them from doing so?


Note that Bitcoin ETFs have indeed been banned recently. In particular, we are talking about products based on the spot price of BTC, i.e. its regular exchange rate. The current ETFs launched are based on futures prices, which allows for market deviations. As a result, the cryptocurrency community was not entirely happy with the regulators' decision. However, the launch of a Bitcoin futures ETF is in any case better than no ETF at all.

For example, the US Securities and Exchange Commission rejected WisdomTree's application for a Bitcoin ETF on December 3. In this case, it was also supposed to be based on the spot price of BTC. The relevant item is now marked with the word "Denied", meaning "rejected".

List of Bitcoin ETFs that are awaiting confirmation or have already waited for cancellation

In addition, Steyl asked the head of Coinbase’s US arm, Alecia Haas, whether its senior management had filed a request with the SEC for permission to issue Stablecoin-linked credit services. Haas noted that SEC officials never “gave a clear answer to their request.”

Coinbase U.S. head Alesia Haas

Some Democrats on the committee are more sceptical about the crypto industry. House member Rashida Tlaib, for example, expressed concern about the growing carbon footprint of Bitcoin mining, while congresswoman Silvia Garcia and Alma Adams demanded that companies provide data on race and gender diversification within their corporate ranks.

Overall, the outcome of the meeting was positive for the crypto industry in terms of the mood of politicians. Jake Czerwinski, head of the Blockchain Association, stated this on his Twitter. Here’s his rejoinder.

Today’s hearing was the most positive, constructive and bipartisan public event on cryptocurrency that I have ever seen in Congress. It’s a testament to the effectiveness of the cryptocurrency community in policy circles. We’ve made astonishingly much progress.

Which means Jake believes that the outcome of the conversation was in any case a positive one, which is also sure to be good for the further development of the digital asset industry.


We believe the event was indeed a major step forward for the cryptocurrency industry. The meeting in Congress made it clear that some politicians have stopped seeing crypto as something negative and are interested in the topic. On top of that, they are also concerned about niche development in other countries - at least that question was asked directly by congressmen. One would like to believe that there will be fewer problems in niche development.

What do you think about it? Share your opinion in our millionaires’ cryptochat. There we will talk about other topics related to blockchain and decentralisation.