Bitcoin continued its post-election rally on Monday, hitting a record price of over $88,000. The asset’s value has increased significantly since Election Day as investors expect the next administration to be more crypto-friendly.
During his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump promised to make the United States “the crypto capital of the planet.” On Monday, the Washington Post reported that it was seeking to appoint crypto-friendly regulators. Trump also has financial ties to the cryptocurrency industry through a new company called World Liberty Financial.
All of this begs the question: at a time when things are at an all-time high, what is the crypto industry asking for?
Paul Grewal, chief legal officer of Coinbase, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, is feeling good right now. “The biggest winner last week was crypto,” he said.
This comes after Joe Biden’s administration took a fairly aggressive approach towards the sector.
Grewal said Coinbase would like to see the new Congress pass laws that would more clearly define crypto assets and who would be responsible for establishing the rules governing them.
He added that many crypto companies want the same thing. “We are all crying out for reasonable standards that would allow us to get back to creating great products and services and spend less time and, frankly, less money arguing over definitions and legal statuses.”
Coinbase and another major crypto company, Circle, also want to see a law around stablecoins. These are digital currencies whose value is tied to an existing asset – often a fiat currency like the dollar. Circle issues stablecoins that include digital dollars and digital euros.
Dante Disparte, chief strategy officer and head of global policy at Circle, said a U.S. law would mean existing international laws would not dictate how digital dollars are regulated.
“Because for many operators around the world, you know the real missing link is legal and regulatory clarity in the United States,” he said.
This desire for rules represents a maturation of the industry after some of them faced lawsuits, said Gil Luria of DA Davidson.
“In the early days of the crypto industry, people didn’t want regulation because part of the philosophy was decentralized, we can do whatever we want, wherever we want. And then people started going to jail, and everyone realized: Well, I can’t do what I want when I want,” he said.
Luria said clear new rules will help industry players determine what they can and cannot do.
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