The us senator Bill Hagerty, Republican who was elected in 2020 to represent Tennessee after a stint as ambassador to Japan, addressed the newly appointed director of the Office for Consumer Financial Protection, Rohit Chopra, regarding cryptocurrencies in a Senate Banking Committee hearing, saying, “I just want to make sure that while you exercise those oversight responsibilities, you don’t we stifle innovation in this area. “
“Digital ledger technology offers enormous promise in terms of innovation and financial inclusion. It is a sector in which I believe the United States is a leader, it has been, and I would like us to continue to be a leader. Especially when we look at other countries. like China and the Chinese Communist Party that has gone on to prohibit the activity of the private sector in this area. “
Hagerty presented in July, along with Senator Mark Warner (Democrat from Virginia), a law to study the adoption of a digital currency by China. Chopra and Hagerty have already butted heads during the confirmation hearings of the former, and even Hagerty introduced a bill to require congressional approval for funding the office.
In a speech to the Senate in late July, Hagerty opined: “We are using the cryptocurrency market as a means of payment. Have we thoroughly investigated how this new regulation and enforcement will affect this rapidly developing industry? Will this industry’s leadership flee from the United States as a result?”
Chopra criticized Facebook’s adoption of Libra during his time at the Federal Trade Commission, and advocated that the Federal Reserve adopt an instant payments service called FedNow. The CFPB warned consumers against Bitcoin as early as 2014, saying at the time that they should “be aware of the potential problems of virtual currencies, such as unclear costs, volatile exchange rates, the threat of hacks and scams, and that companies may not offer assistance or refunds for lost or stolen funds. “
Keep reading: