Legislation Needed for Digital Currency

Floor Speech

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Mr. DAVIDSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss digital currency, particularly initial coin offerings.

These innovations have outpaced regulators and the courts. Now, regulators and courts are beginning to weigh in.

Meeting with agency officials and industry leaders makes one thing clear: Making the markets work in the United States of America requires legislative certainty. Failure for Congress to act produces uncertainty, and that will drive capital and innovation offshore.

Our task is to answer questions like: How are these tokens traded? Are they securities or commodities? Who is the proper regulator? How do we prevent fraud? These are just some of the questions that need answers.

Congress needs to act by passing legislation that creates certainty and turns the United States into a market maker. I intend to lead this legislation for initial coin offerings to clarify the role of regulators, protect consumers, address national security concerns, and facilitate a pro-growth environment for businesses to raise capital here in America.

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