U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), the ranking Republican member of the House Financial Services Committee and cryptocurrency advocate, is urging Democratic Chairwoman Maxine Waters to work with others on digital currencies.
In a letter to the California Democrat on Monday (Jan. 24), McHenry praised Waters for last month’s hearing “Digital Assets and the Future of Finance: Understanding the Challenges and Benefits of Financial Innovation in the United States.” He said the session struck the right chord for members to understand this emerging sector and the issues raised by digital assets.
“It also reaffirmed the complexity of digital assets, only scratching the surface on the breadth of issues that the Financial Services Committee must examine to ensure the policies Congress pursues will nurture innovation in the United States,” he wrote. “As you look to schedule additional hearings … it is critical that we thoroughly review the current environment and prioritize the issues that must be addressed.”
Last fall, McHenry told PYMNTS about the challenges involved in navigating the political landscape for digital currencies and his concerns about regulating Big Tech.
“With the acknowledgment that the existing regulatory regime has done well so far, but for us to be the leader in the next generation of internet technology, we need a new regime built around the nature of digital assets,” he said. “The current law and existing regulatory structures does not match the unique nature of those assets.”
McHenry noted that “we must work together to create opportunities that allow these technologies to flourish without stifling them in their infancy. These are not decisions that should be made by regulators but by policymakers.”
Related: US Rep. Patrick McHenry: Rushed Crypto and Big Tech Regs From Congress ‘Will Be Horrible’
In an interview with PYMNTS earlier this month, New York University Professor Hanna Halaburda said too much regulation can kill innovation, but so can too little regulation.
“We have new opportunities and new challenges, and both opportunities and challenges come from incentives, and dealing with incentives is what economists do,” said Halaburda, who is also an economist.
Read more: Regulating Crypto Will Drive Innovation If Done Right, Economist Argues
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