In Brief:
- US Senator, Bill Hagerty, discussed cryptocurrency innovation with Rohit Chopra, director of the CFPB.
- He urged not to use the power of his agency to stifle crypto innovation.
US Senator Bill Hagerty, who represents Tennessee, discussed cryptocurrencies with Rohit Chopra, newly appointed director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, during a hearing before the Banking Committee.
He emphasised that Chopra should not use his power to stifle innovation in crypto space as he exercises his oversight responsibilities as a director of CFPB.
He said, “Digital ledger technology offers a tremendous amount of promise in terms of financial innovation and inclusion. It’s an industry where I think the United States is leading, has led, and I’d like to see us continue to lead there. Especially when we look at other countries like China and the Chinese Communist Party that has moved to ban private sector activity in that arena.”
Chopra agrees that CFPB should not pick winners and losers and highlighted his priority to make sure that “regulation and enforcement is not just empowering the incumbents even more”. However, the CFPB’s vast regulatory power highlights the need for increased CFPB accountability.
Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) and Hagerty introduced legislation to study China’s adoption of a digital currency in July. Chopra and Hagerty have clashed previously when Hagerty Opposes Chopra to be CFPB Director, with Hagerty even proposing legislation requiring congressional approval for funding of the bureau.
During his tenure on the Federal Trade Commission, Chopra criticized Facebook’s adoption of Libra and called on the Federal Reserve to adopt an instant payments system called FedNow.
With the increasing adoption and awareness of cryptocurrency lots of politicians and senators started supporting it. One of them is Senator Cynthia Lummis. She has always been a supporter of cryptocurrency. According to the October filing, she purchased Bitcoin worth between $50,001 to $100,00.
