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Here’s what the DeFi Education Fund (DEF) has been up to in February. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about a specific activity, please do not hesitate to reach out.
As the saying goes, “bear markets are for builders.” Here at the DeFi Education Fund, we took that to heart in the month of February as we continued to plan, educate and lay the groundwork for what is sure to be an eventful year in DeFi/crypto policy.
Continuing to Meet with the 118th Congress
As the 118th Congress continues to settle in, we spent a good chunk of time continuing to introduce ourselves to new members and committee staff in an attempt to set us up for an impactful year.
While it remains to be seen what crypto policy priorities policymakers will take up, February’s Senate Banking hearing on crypto demonstrated strongly negative sentiment due to the collapse of FTX and the ample amount of work in Congress we have to do this year.
Rebutting a Former SEC Official on the Merits of Crypto
In late January, former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official John Reed Stark took to Twitter to review the “design language” of the “crypto-Ponzi” scheme. We rebutted his flawed reasoning in an op-ed in CoinDesk.
In the piece, DEF’s Miller Whitehouse-Levine argues that “we shouldn’t wholly write off a technology that has real promise, nor should we pass harsh judgment on users and developers for not yet fulfilling the aspirations of this new technology – aspirations that include solving some of our most intractable, costly and long-standing societal problems.”
You can read the full op-ed here.
Media
Podcasts
The Delphi Podcast: The Definitive Conversation on The Government's Regulatory Assault on Crypto
Miller Whitehouse-Levine the CEO of DeFi Education Fund, Marisa T Coppel Policy Counsel at Blockchain Association and Sarah Brennan GC of Delphi Ventures join host Tommy for the definitive episode on crypto regulations.
Op-Eds
CoinDesk: Why Ex-SEC Official John Reed Stark Is Wrong About Crypto
Authored by Miller Whitehouse-Levine
Print/Online
Reuters: Wall St watchdog shortens time-frame for stock trades, proposes new investment adviser rules
However Miller Whitehouse-Levine, policy director at DeFi Education Fund, described Gensler's position as an attempt to cut off digital assets from the traditional financial system.
"This should end any doubt that 'come in and register' is a fig leaf for the SEC usurping Congress to block crypto in the U.S.," he said.
POLITICO: Crypto isn’t getting a new U.S. rulebook
It’s also unclear how lawmakers like Brown and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — who also sees little use for digital currency — would ever align with innovation-loving Republicans like House Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) and Majority Whip Tom Emmer.
“I don’t know if the Overton window of those individuals overlap at all on crypto,” DeFi Education Fund policy director Miller Whitehouse-Levine told MM.
New York Times Dealbook: Investors Await a Momentous Inflation Report
The left-right divisions run deep. Despite a shared sense of urgency, the gulf between party leaders on the details of any approach to crypto regulation is wide, said Miller Whitehouse-Levine, policy director of the DeFi Education Fund, a crypto lobbying group. “It’ll be a lot of work to get consensus,” he said, and he doesn’t foresee legislation passing any time soon.
Capitol Account: A Crypto Moratorium? Firms Worry SEC Plan Could Close Market Off to Big Investors
However, Miller Whitehouse-Levine, policy director of the DeFi Education Fund, had a very different take that focused on Gensler’s oft-repeated request that digital asset firms register with the agency and follow its rules:
“This should end any doubt that ‘come in and register’ is a fig leaf for the SEC usurping Congress to block crypto in the U.S. [The agency’s proposal] requires investment advisers to custody all assets with qualified custodians, while saying it’s unlikely that crypto can be custodied in compliance with the rule.”
Capitol Account: Calling SEC Investor Rule Discriminatory, House Republicans Plot Fresh Push to Open Up PE and Hedge Funds to the Masses
Here’s a response from Miller Whitehouse-Levine, the DeFi Education Fund’s policy director: “The blog post is mistitled. The potential (further) broad decline in digital asset prices, the potential composition of custodial stablecoin reserves, and the potential mass use of a digital asset for payments are not DeFi issues.”
Blog Posts
Illinois SB887: An Impossible Ask from the Immutable Blockchain
For up-to-date information about what’s happening in D.C. and what we are up to, be sure to check out our weekly updates and please follow us on Twitter @fund_defi and subscribe to our Substack.
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