US Congressional Hearing Discusses Bitcoin Legislation

Comment : The United States is a global financial and technological center with a high sensitivity to emerging technologies, especially in the exploration of new technologies in the financial field. Previously, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have all conducted discussions on blockchain technology. Not long ago, members of the U.S. Congress also proposed that the country needs to popularize blockchain technology knowledge in order to cope with future global market development trends. The exploration of blockchain technology legislation by the Commerce Committee at this U.S. Congressional hearing has pushed blockchain technology research to a new high.

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee held a meeting on digital currency and blockchain technology, exploring the characteristics of the technology and recommendations for regulation and legislation.

The panelists at the meeting included: Circle Chief Culture Officer (CCO) John Beccia, Coin Center Executive Director Jerry Brito, IBM Vice President of Blockchain Technology Jerry Cuomo, Factom Chief Architect Paul Snow, Buckley Sandler LLP Legal Counsel Dana Syracuse, Coinbase Legal Counsel Juan Suarez and Blog co-founder Matt Roszak.

The opening remarks focused on the fundamentals of Bitcoin and blockchain, showing the current composition of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and the existing regulatory environment.

Overall, the hearing served as a guide as it served up the disruptive technologies that have emerged in recent months, such as mobile phone-enabled payments, 3D printing and drone technology.

Subcommittee Chairman Representative Michael Burgess opened the meeting with a broad network of contacts and an assessment of how state legislation has worked in recent years to strengthen regulatory mechanisms for this technology and how to apply this technology to government itself.

Subcommittee Chairman Representative: Michael Burgess

Burgess said:

“We will be looking at what consumers can do with digital currencies, and we will also be looking at consumer protection, and even more exciting is the potential benefits that companies using blockchain technology can realize for consumers.”

The U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade is part of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Problem Scope:

Many responded to past concerns raised during the legislative hearing regarding digital currencies, such as issues such as anonymity and privacy on the Bitcoin blockchain, the idea that digital currencies can be used to finance terrorism and the oft-discussed volatility of the Bitcoin market.

On this last point, Roszak argued, and others agreed, that the Bitcoin market is still in its early stages and is therefore subject to supply and demand forces and significant speculation.

“We are at the forefront”

Illinois Representative: Janice Schakowsky

Consumer protection was also a prominent topic at the hearing, with Illinois Rep. Janice Schakowsky asking whether bitcoin users would be able to reverse transactions if they purchased defective merchandise.

This allows Syracuse, an architect who once worked at the New York State Department of Financial Services and obtained a New York Bitcoin license, to indicate that the regulatory mechanism framework that serves as all consumer protection mechanisms can be replaced.

“Under BitCertificates, there are certain disclosures that need to be made. Disclosures about mutability, disclosures about the irreversibility of transactions, those have to be marked out.”

The meeting concluded with Burgess asking the panelists about potential user cases, using micropayments, smart insurance contracts and decentralized forms of corporate governance as possible future applications.

Burgess ended the hearing on a sometimes lighthearted note, joking: “ When we have drone hearings, we have drones. I want to know whose face is going to be on Bitcoin, and I won’t know even after the hearing.”