Senator Cortez Masto: If US Doesn’t Lead in Blockchain Technology, Someone Else Will

In the second hearing dubbed “Examining Regulatory Frameworks for Digital Currencies and Blockchain”, Nevada’s senior senator, Catherine Cortez Masto, said that blockchain technology has potential and isn’t going away.

Blockchain Is Not Going Away

Today, the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs once again discussed the potential creation of a regulatory framework governing cryptocurrencies and digital assets. 

Witnessing at the hearing was Jeremy Allaire, the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Circle. 

While there’s clear uncertainty among officials as to how cryptocurrencies should be governed, most of them seem to believe in the potential of blockchain technology, despite the hoops it will have to jump through before reaching widespread adoption. 

Particularly vocal at today’s hearing was Senator Catherine Cortez Masto who believes that blockchain tech has disruptive potential and that it’s here to stay. She said:

I do think that blockchain technology … there’s potential for it. It’s a platform that has the ability to transform so many sectors of this country from, what we are talking about right now – the financial sector, to the energy sector, to healthcare records, to everything. I think there’s potential here and it’s not going to go away. It is something we will have to address because if we, as a country, do not lead in this technology, China or some other country is going to do so.

Not So Fast, Though

Despite the positivity surrounding blockchain technology and its potential applications, the committee didn’t sound as excited about cryptocurrencies built on top of it. 

The hearing was the second one on the matter. The first hearing saw Facebook’s head of Libra, David Marcus, make the case for the social media mogul’s foray into the field.  

Back then, Steven Mnuchin, the US Secretary of Treasury, said that Facebook must convince regulators of its very high standards before getting access to the country’s financial system. Just yesterday, however, Facebook warned its investors that it may never even launch Libra, citing regulatory concerns and the company’s lack of experience in the field. 

At today’s hearing, the Committee didn’t sound very convinced, and there was uncertainty surrounding whether cryptocurrencies should fit within the existing regulatory framework, or if they deserve a new one to be made from scratch.