At a hearing on July 11, Christie Goldsmith Romero, a candidate for the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), testified before Congress that banks should be allowed to store cryptocurrency assets.
In response to questioning from Senator Cynthia Lummis, the FDIC nominee responded that cryptocurrencies are “a business like any other,” and explained that she does not believe the FDIC’s role is to dictate what assets banks should store or hold.
The Digital Chamber, a Washington, D.C.-based cryptocurrency advocacy group, previously expressed interest in Romero’s nomination, citing her forward-thinking stance on the cryptocurrency industry in a letter to the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.
Senator Lummis’ question was the only one that directly mentioned cryptocurrencies during the nomination hearings to evaluate candidates for positions at the FDIC, Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Treasury, and the Financial Stability Oversight Board.
Congress Fails to Overturn Biden’s Veto on Repealing SAB-121
The nomination hearing came the same day Congress failed to overturn President Joe Biden’s veto of repealing Staff Accounting Bulletin-121 (SAB-121), with the final vote being decided along party lines and falling 60 votes short of the two-thirds majority.
SAB-121 is an SEC regulation that requires banks that hold cryptocurrency assets to hold them as liabilities on their balance sheets. This indirectly discourages banks from holding digital assets on behalf of their customers.
Related: House Fails to Override Biden’s Veto on Invalidating SEC Crypto Rules
The Regulatory War Continues in the United States
Cryptocurrencies have been in the national spotlight and have become a campaign issue since former President Donald Trump declared himself the “Crypto President” and used the hotly debated issue to create a powerful campaign rally.
The 2024 election and ongoing hostility from the SEC have sparked a broad response from industry executives, who are now meeting with DC lawmakers and mobilizing political initiatives such as the Bitcoin Voter Project and the Stand With Crypto political action committee.
On the judicial side, the Supreme Court voted to overturn Chevron USA Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, reversing a 40-year-old precedent that allowed federal regulators to make rules without congressional approval. This latest Supreme Court ruling could have seismic ramifications throughout the U.S. government.
magazine: Recursive Inscription: Bitcoin ‘Supercomputer’ and BTC DeFi Coming Soon