Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) slammed an amendment proposed by fellow Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) on June 30 that would ban elected officials from offering or promoting digital assets.
Speaking on Capitol Hill on Monday, Lummis claimed that Merkley’s proposed amendment “goes too far” when it comes to legislating the blockchain sector.
“I appreciate their concerns about ethics and transparency in government, but this amendment would inflict serious harm on American innovation and competitiveness,” Lummis said. “And for that matter, it applies to the adult children directly or indirectly of elected and non-elected officials.”
“If we had passed something like this in the early days of the internet, we would’ve sent a clear message that America’s closed for business when it comes to digital innovation, and that’s what we risk doing now,” she added.
Lummis further indicated that Merkley’s amendment would be misguided and called for broader ethics reform across the financial services industry as a whole.
“The irony is this amendment would actually harm our government’s ability to understand and regulate digital assets effectively,” Lummis continued. “If we’re serious about ethics and financial products, let’s focus on real solutions and all financial products – not just digital.”
According to a June 30 X post from Merkley, the amendment would have prevented elected officials from “corrupting” their public position via the sale of cryptocurrencies.
“Every now and then a new strategy creates either the appearance of a conflict of interest or a real conflict of interest and that is the case with the elected officials promoting or selling crypto coins in which they have a personal financial stake,” Merkley said.
However, Republican senators have since shot down Merkley’s proposed amendment.
Current U.S. President Donald Trump has been under scrutiny for his ties to the world of cryptocurrencies, particularly in regard to his namesake memecoin, $TRUMP.
However, with the Republican party possessing a fully unified government, it may be tough for Trump’s political opponents to successfully legislate against Trump’s affiliated crypto ventures.
