The Chamber of Digital Commerce hosted its annual D.C. Blockchain Summit March 21 in Washington, D.C., which included the participation of three GOP congressmen.
The day consisted of panels and lectures by government officials, politicians and private sector experts, including U.S. Reps. French Hill (R-Ark.), Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), and Pete Sessions (R-Texas).
Topics ranged from blockchain technology and the regulatory environment to national security, privacy and developing forward-thinking policies that will shape the digital asset markets.
“Bitcoin solves a decades-old computer science dilemma called the double spend problem that enables people to transfer value through the internet,” said Perianne Boring, founder and CEO of the Chamber of Digital Commerce.
“Peer-to-peer blockchains do not require intermediaries to facilitate transactions," she added. "Blockchains enable us, the people, to have more control over our assets and this will go down in history as one of the most important technological advances.”
In the past year, blockchain companies raised $26.8 billion globally, and 57% of that money has been invested in U.S. companies, according to data provided by the Chamber of Digital Commerce.
“The reality is blockchain technology is leading the transition to clean energy and it is revitalizing world communities in the process,” Boring told the audience. “We are encouraging policymakers to further study and understand blockchain technology’s ability to integrate with energy infrastructure and the role it plays in strengthening energy security.”
Only three months into the new year, however, cryptocurrency was thrust into the center of controversy with the news that FTX had collapsed.
FTX, once valued at $32 billion, filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 as the crypto exchange’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, resigned amid accusations of financial misdeeds and fraud.
Boring blames government for standing in the way of innovation and holding the U.S. back from implementing policies that will serve the people and technologies.
“It has been over 10 years, and it still remains unclear which regulatory agency plays what role in regulating the digital asset marketplace,” she said. “With no clear guidance, an entire industry worth trillions with tens and thousands of investors must make decisions not only based on financial risk but on legal risk.”
Even Southern District of New York Bankruptcy Judge Michael Wiles took regulators to task for allowing a highly uncertain regulatory environment to continue in his March 11 decision granting Binance.US permission to acquire Voyager Digital's assets in a $1 billion acquisition.
"As we have seen with innovations over the millennia, whether it's the minute hand, the steam engine, electricity, or the Internet, jurisdictions that seek to ban technological progress will be left behind," Boring added. "Cryptocurrencies and blockchains are giving people more control of their money, their data, their intellectual property and their assets."
