U.S. Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming held a fireside chat with the founder and CEO of Chamber of Digital Commerce Perianne Boring during the Bitcoin 2023 event in Miami on May 19.
The topics of discussion were the importance of Bitcoin to U.S. national and energy security and the upcoming legislation surrounding cryptocurrency, blockchain, and related technologies.
Lummis described regulating Bitcoin and related technologies as a national security issue. She opined that the U.S. government had been irresponsible with its debt, and positioned Bitcoin as a decentralized safety net for citizens:
“I’m actually worried as we go into another debt ceiling debate that we will eventually increase the debt ceiling to the point where our interest payments will exceed how much money we spend on national defense. So it is a national security issue.”
The senator made clear that it was her belief that the current challenges surrounding the passing of Bitcoin-friendly bills had more to do with what she perceived as ignorance or a lack of education than concerns grounded in reality.
Addressing the audience as a whole, Lummis quipped “even though you all know that when FTX failed, they held zero Bitcoin, there are a lot of people in Washington DC that conflate companies with digital assets, they conflate Bitcoin with other cryptocurrencies.”
Senator Lummis, alongside junior New York senator Kristen Gillibrand, hope a bill they’ve drafted as a comprehensive cryptocurrency legislative measure will serve as a catalyst for positive change. However, according to Lummis, the two senators are waiting to see how a bill introduced in the house relating to stable coins does before introducing their own.
Lummis appeared optimistic concerning the bill’s chances citing as a significant factor the facts that senator Gillibrand served on the senate committee overseeing the CFTC while she herself was a member of the committee with oversight of the SEC.
Perianne Boring, founder and CEO of Chamber of Digital Commerce, shifted the conversation to mining, pointing out that her company’s membership represented over 50% of the Bitcoin hashrate in the U.S. and that many of her clients were worried about the proposed 30% mining tax floated by the White House recently.
While mention of the tax solicited boos, senator Lummis turned the jeers into cheers by simply responding with “Well, I want to start by saying that isn’t going to happen.” She then reiterated that several…
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