Republican US Senator Cynthia Lummis from Wyoming had a fireside chat with Perianne Boring, founder and CEO of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, during the Bitcoin 2023 event in Miami on May 19.
The topic of discussion was the importance of Bitcoin, US national and energy security and upcoming legislation on cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and related technologies.
Lummis described regulating bitcoin and related technologies as a matter of national security. She believes the US government is irresponsible for its debt and positions Bitcoin as a decentralized safety net for citizens: "As we get into another debt ceiling debate, I 'm actually concerned that we're going to end up raising the debt ceiling to the point where we're going to pay more in interest than we're spending on defense. So it's a national security issue."
The senator made it clear that she believes the current challenges surrounding passage of bitcoin-friendly bills have more to do with what she perceives as ignorance or lack of education than concerns based on reality.
Lummis quipped while addressing the full audience, “Although you all know that when FTX failed they held zero bitcoin, there are a lot of people in DC who confuse companies with digital assets, they confuse bitcoin with other cryptocurrencies.” Lummis hopes that a bill she and junior New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand are drafting as a sweeping cryptocurrency legislative measure will be a catalyst for positive change. However, according to Lummis, the two senators are waiting to see how the stablecoin-related bills introduced in the House farebefore introducing their own bills. Lummis is optimistic about the likelihood of the bill, noting that a big factor is that Gillibrand has served on the Senate committee that oversees the Commodity Futures Trading Commission,And that she herself is on the committee that oversees the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Boring, founder and CEO of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, turned the conversation to mining, noting that her company's members account for more than 50% of the US bitcoin hash rate, and that many of her clients are concerned about the proposed 30% mining . raised taxes.
Referring to the booing over the tax, Lummis simply responded, "Well, I want to be the first to say it's not going to happen." That turned the jeers into cheers. She then reiterated that several members of Congress are working hard with the digital asset community to ensure fair regulation follows. Citing the further importance of proper regulation, Lummis again described the issue as one of national security, this time adding that the country’s utilization of the bitcoin mining process is also imperative to the environment: “One of the advantages of bitcoin mining is that when you drill an oil and gas well, and it’s away from other oil and gas wells, you’re venting the gas into the atmosphere until you can bring in pipelines to connect it. OK Well, while you're emitting, you can run a bitcoin mining operation in a trailer, use the methane gas that you emit to mine your bitcoins, and prevent that gas from being released into the atmosphere." The senator added that “Bitcoin is cleaning the environment” to further cheers from the audience. She also mentioned that Bitcoin mining can be used as a tool to stabilize the energy grid, saying that mining operations can be increased or decreased to ensure proper energy distribution.
Explaining why the U.S. government has been reluctant to promote bitcoin technology, Lummis pointed to Congress’ belief that “bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are being used for criminal activities.” “We try to educate members of Congress that companies like Chainalysis can actually solve crimes more easily using bitcoin and cryptocurrencies than using dollars,” Lummis explained, adding, “There are still people who don’t believe this.” She Going on to explain that pushing Bitcoin and related technological innovations, such as offshore mining operations, overseas would undermine the ability of U.S. law enforcement to operate in an increasingly digital world.
