A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee convened cryptocurrency industry leaders Wednesday to discuss digital currencies and blockchain technology. The Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade subcommittee
A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee convened cryptocurrency industry leaders Wednesday to discuss digital currencies and blockchain technology. The Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade subcommittee was continuing its Disrupter Series, which had previously examined emerging technologies like drones and the Internet of Things.
Seven industry figures testified before the committee: Jerry Brito from Coin Center, Juan Suarez from Coinbase, Matthew Roszak of the Chamber of Digital Commerce and Bloq, John Beccia from Circle, Paul Snow from Factom, Gennaro Cuomo of IBM who directs the company's Blockchain Technologies group, and Dana Syracuse, a former associate general counsel at the New York Department of Financial Services now practicing at law firm BuckleySandler. The subcommittee consists of twenty members, including eight Democrats and twelve Republicans.
Lawmakers displayed little understanding of digital currencies and blockchain technology. Representative Leonard Lance of New Jersey asked if customers could invest in digital currencies. Industry witnesses had to explain that companies represented at the hearing sell Bitcoin to their customers.
Members expressed concerns about price volatility, consumer protections (particularly Bitcoin's irreversible transactions), money laundering, terrorism financing, and ransomware.
Brito disputed the ransomware focus. Ransomware had circulated for twenty-five years before Bitcoin emerged, he pointed out. Cybersecurity solutions, not cryptocurrency regulation, represented the right approach to the problem.
Snow took a different angle on the irreversibility issue. Bitcoin lacked the reversible safeguards of traditional payments, he acknowledged, but customers could access other protections through the blockchain. He explained that customers could check the ledger to verify product authenticity and distinguish genuine goods from counterfeits.
Representative Janice Schakowsky of Illinois rejected this framing and turned the discussion in another direction.
For the majority of the session, industry participants educated lawmakers on the mechanics of Bitcoin, blockchains, and digital currencies. IBM's Cuomo made a notable statement during his opening remarks: "Blockchains must be open to reach their full potential." He also emphasized the importance of open source software. Cuomo directs IBM's blockchain initiatives at a company with substantial investments in the space, including development of an enterprise-grade system. IBM participates in the Hyperledger project, which operates under open source principles. Other companies promoted the advantages of private blockchains. Cuomo advocated for open systems that remained distributed, distinguishing his position from the trend.
Emergency maintenance on the Washington DC Metro system delayed the session's start. The gathering ran for approximately one hour and forty-five minutes.
