Coinspeaker
Senator Lummis Challenges Government’s Stance on Crypto
In a recent outburst shared via her official X account, she issued a strong statement against the United States’ ‘hyper-aggressive’ approach to regulation. The statement reads in part:
“I am deeply troubled by the Department of Justice’s hyper-aggressive argument that non-custodial software can constitute a money transmission service.”
For what it’s worth, it is not unusual for Senator Lummis to lend her voice to Bitcoin and the overall crypto market. However, this time, she insists that the DoJ’s stance does not only contradict existing Treasury guidance. It also lacks common sense and violates the rule of law, Lummis noted.
She explained that the arguments against self-custody software threaten the fundamental property rights of an average American. Lummis argues that private individuals have the right to hold their keys and operate their own nodes. However, by criminalizing this, the senator claims that the Biden administration is frustrating the entire concept of the Bitcoin (BTC) network and what decentralized finance (DeFi) stands for.
Senator Lummis Calls for Clarity
Notably, Senator Lummis publicly disapproved of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) “unnecessary” and “overreaching” antics throughout last year. Her criticism began in March 2022 when the SEC issued a controversial crypto policy called “Staff Accounting Bulletin 121”.
She also remarkably filed an amicus brief supporting the Coinbase exchange in its legal tussle with the SEC. There, she claimed that the Congress should rather formulate crypto regulations rather than the SEC. Her reasons bordered on how the SEC had gone overboard by attempting to classify almost all crypto assets as “securities,” an action that the pro-crypto Senator believes is a direct infringement on Congress’s legislative authority.
Overall, Senator Lummis’ aim is to have clear regulatory guidelines established for the crypto industry. To this end, she recently teamed up with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to introduce the Lummis-Gillibrand bill. The legislation aims to provide regulatory clarity for digital assets like XRP, that properly classifies them.
Senator Lummis has been a prominent supporter of Bitcoin and the overall crypto market, but her latest statement is a testament to the growing regulatory pressure around the world.
