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said in introducing the ACCEPT resolution on Jan. 26, 2023.
Insider’sreport "It is also increasingly being used as a secure form of pay-
ment for goods and services. This is why we, here in the
on payments United States Capitol, should increase accessibility and sig-
nal our support for the burgeoning cryptocurrency indus-
try."
The lowdown on crypto Sen. Cruz has been a vocal advocate for crypto in the past,
and has reported investments in Bitcoin on financial disclo-

By Patti Murphy sure forms lawmakers routinely file. He also has expressed
opposition to crypto regulation. But that doesn't seem to be
ProScribes Inc. the prevailing sentiment in Washington.

ifteen years ago someone calling themselves "For all their talk of innovation and financial inclusion,
Satoshi Nakamoto published a white paper pro- crypto industry giants—from FTX to Celsius to Voyager—
posing a peer-to-peer electronic cash system that are collapsing under the weight of their own fraud, deceit,
F soon became known as Bitcoin. Today there are and gross mismanagement," Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-
thousands of cryptocurrency systems, all running on the Mass., said in a Jan. 25 speech to policy wonks.
same blockchain technology Bitcoin uses, and policymak-
ers are struggling to get a handle on the whole matter. The "solution" to this problem, Sen. Warren and others be-
lieve, is to step up crypto market oversight and enforce-
But the market for crypto has been experiencing a rough ment by government entities, like the Securities and Ex-
patch, with crashing values and bankrupt exchanges change Commission and Commodities Futures Trading
leading to competing calls for government action. Commission.

Then there are the environmental concerns. Crypto mining, "With strong rules and enforcement from tough regulators,
which requires vast decentralized computer networks we can give the crypto industry a chance to prove whether
that generate and verify new blockchains, consumes it can deliver innovation without robbing investors or laun-
extraordinarily large amounts of energy, between 120 and dering funds for drug traffickers and terrorists," Sen. War-
240 billion kilowatt hours per year, according to published ren said.
estimates. That's well in excess of the total annual
electricity usage of many countries, including Argentina The Biden Administration, in a Jan. 25 briefing paper, said
and Australia. it has instructed federal agencies to "ramp up enforcement
where appropriate and issue new guidance where needed."
Stepped up regulation, legislation, maybe This includes the SEC, CFTC, the Federal Reserve and oth-
er financial regulators, according to The Administration's
Against this backdrop, Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is Roadmap to Mitigate Cryptocurrencies' Risks. The briefing
pushing for crypto to be an accepted form of payment within paper added that "the events of the past year underscore
the U.S. Capitol. No joke! He's introduced a resolution, that more is needed."
Adopting Cryptocurrency in Congress as an Exchange of
Payment (ACCEPT) Resolution, that would have vending The Administration urged Congress to expand the pow-
machines and commissaries on the Capitol grounds accept ers regulators have to prevent misuses of customer assets,
crypto in addition to other forms of payment. (A resolution which is believed to have been a leading cause of several
doesn't have the force of law; it's merely an expression of well-known bankruptcies, including that of FTX.
congressional sentiment.)
However, a tug of war may arise out of efforts to tighten
"Cryptocurrency is generating new jobs, encouraging en- crypto regulations, notably the SEC and the CFTC, with
trepreneurs to invent new values and create hedges against each asserting reasons why it should be the primary reg-
inflation, and presenting new opportunities," Sen. Cruz ulator, and each launching enforcement actions against
crypto firms in recent years. The CFTC argues that crypto
is a currency, which makes it a commodity subject to its
The crypto market is experiencing oversight. The SEC asserts that the broad legal definitions
a rough patch, with crashing values of securities place the crypto market squarely within its
regulatory purview.
and bankrupt exchanges leading to
competing calls for government Ultimately, the decision about which agency gets the job
will be up to Congress. But given the speed with which
action, but whatever ensues, Congress acts on controversial legislation, that decision
crypto is here to stay. doesn't seem imminent. The White House, in its brief-
ing paper, urged congressional action but also included a
warning.
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