The American advocacy group that promoting digital assets, Chamber of Digital Commerce announced the launch of an educational initiative dubbed ‘Crypto For Congress’ in a bid to provide all Members of Congress, regardless of party, a “hands-on learning experience” with blockchain technology.
Over the past couple of years, the cryptocurrency market has matured as well as diversified, bringing in more institutional capital than ever. Despite this, regulators and lawmakers all over the world are mostly skeptical about this space. Hence, this initiative is aimed at further expanding the use and adoption of digital assets among Congressional candidates, elected leaders, and engaged citizens.
The official release stated,
“Today, all Members of the United States Congress will receive a campaign contribution in bitcoin as part of a groundbreaking initiative called “Crypto for Congress.” This milestone marks the first time every Member of Congress will have the opportunity to interact with and fully realize the potential of blockchain technology.”
In an effort to raise awareness, the blockchain advocacy group’s Political Action Committee [PAC] will make a $50 bitcoin contribution to the campaign of each congressperson, mentioned the blog post. Perianne Boring, Founder and President of the Chamber of Digital Commerce in a statement revealed,
“Now is the moment for all Members of Congress to learn about and embrace cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, and the best way to do that is to set up a digital wallet and get started on the blockchain journey.”
She further went on to add,
“Many other nations like China, Japan, Singapore, and Switzerland have rapidly embraced blockchain technology and created robust national plans to be global leaders in this area. The United States is falling behind in technological innovation and this is not a risk we should be willing to take.”
‘Fill in the regulatory gaps’
This news comes a little over a week after Rep. Michael Conaway [R-Texas] introduced the Digital Commodity Exchange Act of 2020 to create a single, nationwide regulatory framework for cryptocurrency exchange platforms. This was aimed to fill the regulatory gaps between the CFTC and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] in the digital asset marketplace. This new framework for digital currencies will essentially treat crypto platforms similar to commodities under the Commodities Exchange Act, which governs that asset class.
Furthermore, the bill found support from lawmakers such as Austin Scott, Dusty Johnson, Tom Emmer, David Schweikert, and Darren Soto.
