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Sept 9 (Reuters) – A fight over major cryptocurrency legislation has spilled into the congressional summer recess, with the crypto industry and the banking sector mounting a final lobbying blitz in senators’ home states ahead of a vote on the bill next week.
The industry has spent hundreds of millions of dollars campaigning to advance the Clarity Act, which it says will put crypto companies on a solid legal footing. The Senate will take a procedural vote on September 15 that could determine the fate of the bill, but with Democrats and some Republicans warning the bill has insufficient safeguards and could destabilize the banking system, its chances look slim, according to analysts.
During the recess, which began on August 8, the crypto industry and banking groups have taken their fight to senators’ home states, deploying op-ed pieces, letter-writing drives and in-person events to rally grassroots support and sway lawmakers, according to executives and public materials.
“Our strategy during recess is … about demonstrating the presence and enthusiasm of our community, in every state and every congressional district,” said Mason Lynaugh, executive director of Stand With Crypto, an advocacy group backed by crypto company Coinbase.
Some of its 3 million advocates — everyday crypto supporters and tech entrepreneurs — have placed op-eds in local newspapers in Oklahoma, Kentucky and Kansas, among other states, urging Congress to pass the bill. The group has also hosted events in Iowa, Michigan and elsewhere to advocate for digital assets. During August, its supporters have called or emailed their members of Congress nearly 50,000 times, and the group is facilitating in-person meetings with lawmakers, Lynaugh said.
Republican U.S. President Donald Trump courted crypto cash on the campaign trail by pledging to promote policies friendly to the $2 trillion cryptocurrency market, and the White House has strongly backed the Clarity Act. The bill would address what the crypto industry says is legal ambiguity by defining which tokens qualify as securities versus commodities, and which regulators oversee them.
Crypto companies are anxious to pass the bill this year because polls favor Democrats to retake the House of Representatives in the November midterm elections, likely extinguishing what many see as a once-in-a-generation legislative opportunity. But the industry’s recess campaign is also an opportunity to showcase its growing political clout heading into those elections, on which it has already spent at least $190 million.
Source: ca.finance.yahoo.com