HODLpac's Candidate Questionnaire
Also: HODLpac's Twitter Space TONIGHT with Aarika Rhodes, new legislation to fix the infrastructure bill, and crypto-related Congressional hearings this week.
Gm,
51 weeks to go to the general election. With your help, 2022 will be the year of the crypto voter.
Join HODLpac tonight on Twitter at 6:15 PST / 9:15 EST as we host Aarika Rhodes, challenger to Brad Sherman in California’s 30th District.
The crypto community has an incredible opportunity to come together, support Aarika’s campaign, and make a big splash in DC by unseating our biggest antagonist in Congress.
Politics influences policy. If other politicians see what happens you mess with Americans’ right to participate in the cryptoeconomy, they’ll think twice before passing anti-crypto legislation like the infrastructure bill.
Use the link below to donate directly to Aarika’s campaign through HODLpac. You’ll earn governance tokens to steer HODLpac as an organization (and maybe even some cool NFTs 👀).
As always, three things you can do to get involved with HODLpac:
Subscribe and share our newsletter with your friends and colleagues
Join our Discord to help shape the future of HODLpac:
Donate to HODLpac, get governance tokens, and be a part of the first political DAO in history:
HODLpac’s Candidate Questionnaire
One of the advantages of being a FEC-registered political action committee is that campaigns and candidates will (1) be able to verify your authenticity as a source of funding so that (2) they will respond to inquiries seeking to learn more about their policy positions.
That’s where candidate questionnaires come in. They’re a standard practice among PACs and other advocacy groups to find out where candidates stand on issues they care about and whether they deserve funding or endorsements.
HODLpac is a community-governed PAC, the home of the single issue crypto voter. As such we’re building in public as much as we can (join our Discord to get involved).
That’s why we’re open-sourcing the development of HODLpac 2022’s Candidate Questionnaire.
Answers to the questionnaire will be made public on the HODLscore tracker.
Follow the link below to provide input on a draft on Google Docs.
What issues are we missing? How can we improve the wording of questions or explanations? Comment on the document above or join our Discord and provide input!
The Week in Crypto Policy
Two big news items from this week related to fixing the anti-crypto provisions of the infrastructure bill. Check out last week’s newsletter to see how we should move forward.
Lummis and Wyden’s “Broker” Fix
Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) introduced legislation to clarify the definition of digital asset “broker” as included in the infrastructure bill that President Biden signed into law yesterday.
According to the press release from Senator Lummis’ office:
The senators’ bill would clarify that the “broker” definition excludes miners and stakers, as well as wallet providers and developers, and would ensure that only those digital asset intermediaries that actually have access to material customer information are required to report to the IRS.
“‘Bitcoin Senator’ Lummis Joins Wyden to Undo Crypto Language in Infrastructure Bill,” Jeff Benson, Decrypt
Ted Cruz’s 6050I Bill
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced a bill this morning “that would repeal an overly broad and poorly-crafted provision from the infrastructure package that creates new reporting requirements for many participants within the blockchain industry.” Specifically, the unworkable Section 6050I tax provision.
Principles to Guide US CBDC
A group of House Republicans on the Financial Services Committee released a document containing a set of “principles to guide Congress' evaluation of potential proposals for a U.S. Central Bank Digital Currency.”
From the press release:
The principles state that a potential Fed-issued digital currency must maintain the dollar as the world’s reserve currency and the preeminence of the U.S. payment system; not impede ongoing development of stablecoins; promote private sector innovation and foster competition; and address privacy and security protections.
These principles were developed by Committee Republicans’ Digital Asset Working Group Members Republican Leader Patrick McHenry (NC-10), Rep. Ann Wagner (MO-02), Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-03), Rep. Bill Huizenga (MI-02), Rep. Andy Barr (KY-06), Rep. French Hill (AR-02), Rep. Tom Emmer (MN-06), Rep. Warren Davidson (OH-08), Rep. Ted Budd (NC-13), and Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (OH-16)
Crypto in Congress - November 16, 2021
By Ron Hammond
Busy week in DC with various legislative efforts coming to light after the Infrastructure bill was signed into law on Monday. Additionally there are 4 important hearings to monitor as it relates to crypto.
On Wednesday the House Homeland Security Committee will be having a hearing on combatting ransomware. DHS will be presenting their approach to combatting ransomware.
Also on Wednesday will be the Joint Economic Committee hearing on general crypto. This is the committee’s first dive into crypto this Congress with many familiar faces testifying including Peter Van Valkenberg (Coin Center), Kevin Werbach (UPenn), Tim Massad (Harvard) and Alexis Goldstein (Open Markets Institute). The hearing will likely center around Chair Beyer’s Digital Asset Market Structure and Investor Protection Act which has a few good elements, but more bad points including banning privacy coins and adding additional confusion to when a token is or isn’t a security.
On Thursday, the Senate Banking Committee will have a confirmation hearing with OCC nominee Saule Omarova. Omarova’s nomination has been contentious as Rs point to her anti-bank stance and some D’s have even expressed hesitation advancing her nomination. Given the razor slim majority, she will need all D’s to support her nomination in order to be confirmed.
Finally on Thursday, the Senate Homeland Security Committee will be having a hearing on the promises and threats of crypto. This hearing will be similar to the House ransomware hearing but also include notable voices such as Jerry Brito (Coin Center), Jeremy Allaire (Circle) and various government officials.
🐦 Tweets
📚 Good Reads
“Blockchain Association’s Analysis of the PWG Stablecoin Report,” Blockchain Association, Blockchain Association Medium
“The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s Attack on Crypto: Questioning the Rationale for the Cryptocurrency Provisions,” Nicholas Anthony, Cato Institute
“The International Journal of Blockchain Law: Volume 1,” Global Blockchain Business Council
“A Real Approach to Cryptocurrency Regulation,” Team Ripple, Ripple Blog
🎙️ Listen/Watch
“Jerry Brito & Peter Van Valkenburgh: Coin Center – The US Regulatory Landscape for Crypto,” Friederike Ernst & Sebastien Couture, Epicenter Podcast
What’d we miss? Join our Discord and help curate this newsletter!
Disclaimer: HODLpac is FEC-registered hybrid political action committee and is not legally affiliated with any party, party committee, candidate or candidate committee.