DC Blockchain Summit sees Congressman Tom Emmer call for financial privacy protections in the age of digital assets
The DC Blockchain Summit, hosted by the Chamber of Digital Commerce, kicked off in Washington DC today. Throughout the meeting day, experts from the government and private sector gathered to discuss the current state and future prospects of blockchain technology, digital assets and decentralized finance (DeFi). With topics ranging from the regulatory environment to the metaverse, the conference is shaping up to be a comprehensive exploration of how the US can develop forward-looking policies that shape the digital asset markets.
The past year has been tough for crypto, with bad headlines due to the FTX collapse requiring increased scrutiny from policymakers. Engaging policy makers to design a policy framework that promotes innovation was the theme of the largest industry gathering in the nation’s capital.
The DC Blockchain Summit has brought together industry experts, early adopters and decision makers, all interested in engaging in thoughtful discussions and debates that will help shape the future of digital assets.
During the opening session, Congressman Emmer, House Majority Whip and Congressional Blockchain Caucus Co-Chair, spoke about how blockchain technology and digital assets can help the United States win the technological “space race.”
US House Majority Whip Congressman Tom Emmer, a strong advocate for the creation of a regulatory framework for digital assets, said that when he joined Congress, a staffer gave him a book to discuss the promise of blockchain and crypto to restore financial control to the individual.
“Eight years ago, I saw this very technology as a solution to the mismanagement of our monetary policy and the restoration of vital American values: privacy, individual sovereignty and free markets,” Emmer said.
American leadership in the global economy, according to Rep. Emmer, is “driven by our ability to leverage innovations that make markets and communications more efficient.” He spoke of the next phase of the economy known as the “ownership economy.”
Enter crypto.
Rep. Emmer said cryptocurrency is a technology that can empower individuals and shift economic power from centralized institutions back to the people. He noted that this could be seen as threatening to unelected bureaucrats and career politicians in Washington DC who seek to maintain and expand economic control over people.
“As government-controlled programmable money that can be easily weaponized into a surveillance tool, the very ethos of central bank digital currencies is everything Bitcoin and crypto stand against; that is everything the United States stands against,” said Representative Emmer.
Emer recently introduced the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act to protect financial privacy. Emmer said it is “more important than ever” to ensure that US digital currency policy upholds “our American values of privacy, individual sovereignty and free market competitiveness”.
“Crypto should be promoted and developed in the United States, just like the internet,” said Rep. Emmer.
