The Chamber of Digital Commerce warns that if the U.S. does not adopt a national approach to crypto regulation, it risks losing its global leadership and dollar primacy.
On May 19, the Chamber of Digital Commerce, a digital asset advocacy group with major players such as Goldman Sachs, Citi Group, Circle, and Fidelity, urged Congress and the Senate to pass a legal framework for digital assets or risk falling behind other nations.
In addition, the organization requested that Congress establish a “Digital Asset and Blockchain Technology Solarium Commission,” which would be responsible for developing a strategic approach to digital assets and blockchain technology in the United States.
The threat posed by adversarial nations
The lobbying group issued a warning that inaction could enable “adversarial nations” to advance their activities in the space that could “endanger U.S. leadership and dollar primacy.”
It cited China as an example of such adversarial action, noting that China has developed an internationally focused Blockchain-based Services Network (BSN) to “incorporate global development and trade and fill the U.S.-created vacuum.”
It also mentioned that a growing number of countries, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, France, Brazil, and India, are considering or choosing to trade with China directly in yuan, which could contribute to a decline in the use of the U.S. dollar.
Furthermore, the organization noted the potential BRICS digital currency and other developments regarding gold-backed digital currencies by Russia and Iran.
The need for regulatory clarification
The lobbying group concluded that regulatory and legal opacity in the U.S. is “hampering the nation’s ability to lead and take advantage of this innovation revolution” and that “this abdication is severely hampering domestic development and ceding advantages to other nations at the expense of the U.S. innovator and investor.”
In light of this pressing need for a regulatory framework, the Chamber of Digital Commerce has proposed the creation of a “Digital Asset and Blockchain Technology Solarium Commission.”
The proposed commission’s name references Project Solarium, which President Eisenhower created to combat the threat of Soviet expansion in the aftermath of World War II and the onset of the Cold War.
The Cyberspace Solarium Commission was established in 2019 to devise a strategic defence against cyber attacks. The crypto advocacy group calls for a similar strategy regarding digital assets and blockchain technology, which “desperately needs consensus in the wake of other nations’ advances.”
The Chamber of Digital Commerce, founded in 2014, is an American advocacy organization that promotes emerging blockchain technologies.
On May 19, the group backed Senator Tom Emmer’s introduction of the Securities Clarity Act, which aims to provide much-needed regulatory clarity for the crypto asset and blockchain industry in the U.S.
The Securities and Exchange Commission remains adamant that the existing rules formed decades ago still apply to this new form of digital finance and its underlying technology.
The call for a regulatory framework for digital assets in the U.S. is becoming increasingly urgent as other countries continue to advance in the field and threaten to leave the United States behind.
