With the CLARITY Act and the GENIUS Act on deck this week for House approval, Maxine Waters, the Ranking Member on the House Financial Services Committee, has posted an Op-ed slamming these bills as little more than legislation for and written by the crypto industry.
Representative Waters decries the legislation, predicting the potential for repeating financial crises of the past as they “weaken critical consumer and investor protections but also legalize and legitimize President Donald Trump’s crypto corruption and abuse of power.”
The CLARITY Act outlines regulatory responsibilities for regulators and managing the various types of digital assets. The crypto industry has been calling for clear, bright-line rules for years, but it has taken a Republican administration to achieve this goal.
The GENIUS Act will provide guidelines for payment stablecoins, effectively new payment rails where transfers are instantaneous and the cost of payments is less than that of legacy operations.
The overriding goal of these bills is to ensure the US becomes the leading jurisdiction for digital asset innovation while protecting consumers and businesses.
As for Representative Waters, she believes the CLARITY Act will undermine traditional securities markets by creating loopholes that can be used to avoid current securities laws.
She also claims the GENIUS Act means stablecoins could create national security risks, more discrimination, and enable opportunities for fraud.
As for President Trump, Waters claims these bills will help engender the “largest fraud and abuse of power in modern history.”
“If these bills become law, America will eventually face its first crypto financial crisis,” declares Waters.
Hyperbole aside, maintaining the status quo was never a real option. Change is always happening, and regulators and elected officials need to keep pace. Society has been adopting various aspects of the digital asset industry for years.
When Democrats controlled Congress, they failed to leverage their leadership to enact legislation to protect consumers while enabling innovation. Today, Republicans are accomplishing what they promised to do.
