US Crypto Lobby Group Sounds Alarm On Adversarial Nations In Blockchain Arms Race

Key Points:

• Blockchain lobbying group urges Congress to pass a legal framework for digital assets or risk falling behind other nations.
• The organization requests that Congress organize a “Digital Asset and Blockchain Technology Solarium Commission” to develop a “national strategic approach to digital assets and blockchain technology” in the U.S.
• Failure to act would enable “adversarial nations” to further their activities in the space and endanger U.S. leadership and dollar primacy.

A blockchain lobbying group that includes major players such as Goldman Sachs, Citi Group, Circle, and Fidelity has called for the United States Congress to pass a legal framework for digital assets or risk falling behind other nations.

The U.S. Chamber of Digital Commerce sent a call to action to Congress and the Senate on May 19, urging them to prioritize passing a national approach to crypto regulation. The organization also requested that Congress set up 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 U.S.

The lobbying group issued a warning that failure to act could enable “adversarial nations” to further their activities in the space that could “endanger U.S. leadership and dollar primacy.” It cited China as an example of such adversarial action, pointing out 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 lead to a decrease in the use of the U.S. dollar.

Furthermore, the organization brought up the potential BRICS digital currency and other developments regarding gold-backed digital currencies by Russia and Iran.

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 urgent 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, created in the wake of World War II and the dawning of the Cold War by President Eisenhower to counter the threat of Soviet expansion.

The Cyberspace Solarium Commission, created in 2019, was established to develop a strategic approach to defend against cyber attacks. The crypto advocacy group is calling for a similar strategy on digital assets and blockchain technology, which “desperately needs consensus in the wake of other nations’ advances.”