Now this is a key fintech conference for establishing connections.
I sat down with Cody Carbone, CEO of the digital chamber, to learn more about the outlook on DI regulation as the government shutdown stretches into another week.
Take a look.
Welcome to FinTech TV.
I'm Memory Blair.
We're coming to you from Money 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and today I am joined by Cody Carbone, who's CEO of the digital chamber.
Now Cody, great to have you here.
Thank you so much for joining me.
Thanks so much for having me, Remy.
Well, today is day one of Money 2020, and I know that you're gonna be speaking on a panel later today, but first and foremost, a lot has happened in DC, so give us your breakdown and key takeaways from last week.
Last week was chaos, uh, organized chaos.
It's gotten better.
Last week was the first time that we heard from both Democrats and Republicans what they truly wanted from the market structure legislation.
This is the large package that will tell listing platforms who the regulator is or if you're gonna.
Issue a token who your regulator is and so both Democrats and Republicans separately unfortunately had round tables with the largest executives in the crypto industry.
There was real progress that was made there was hope and optimism that we're going to get a bill in the near future, so it was a good step for getting a legislative package across the finish line into the president's desk hopefully in this calendar year.
And speaking of which, 2025 has seen a sea change when it comes to the regulatory environment, especially with digital assets, but your work, Cody, at the digital chamber, you're working on a regulatory framework, correct?
So tell us what that entails.
Yes, it's been a complete 180 from the previous administration or just the previous few years in Washington as a whole.
For the first time, the digital asset industry is able to be proactive.
We've had to be reactive for so long we just felt like there was an onslaught of enforcement actions or bad laws being proposed that would hurt the industry and hurt innovation.
Now we can be proactive and really work collaboratively with not only the White House but with the SEC, the CFTC, the market regulators and Congress.
So at the digital chamber we've been trying to be proactive in creating that regulatory framework ensuring that everyone knows who the regulator is what they need to do to operate safely, compliantly in the United States, and not only how they can operate but how they can grow here.
We want all of this technology to come back to the United States.
We want it to grow here we want to be successful and.
Consumers to be able to play around with the technology safely, we want it to be under regulatory structure.
I think for so long the, uh, the, the talking point from the critics of the digital asset industry was this industry does not want to be regulated.
We're saying the exact opposite.
We just want a clear, consistent regulatory framework that is decided by members of Congress and the administration and not by the courts.
And speaking of which, I do want to shift our focus on overseas.
So when we're talking about innovation, I think it's key moving forward but also having regulation is important as well.
So what key lessons can we learn from say Singapore or Switzerland?
How to do things right, those are the jurisdictions that have gotten the technology and the technology builders and providers and developers to go there.
Consistency, clarity, those are the two things we're always looking for in regulation.
If I'm an industry and I am looking to set up shop in Singapore or in Dubai or in the United States now, do I know how to go to my regulator?
Do I know who my regulator is?
Do I know what questions I need to ask that I can operate successfully and compliantly in that jurisdiction?
Those jurisdictions that have done it right, as you mentioned, Singa.
For the UAE, Hong Kong, they've created those clear and consistent frameworks, and that has attracted so much talent and so much growth over the last few years.
The US is now trying to replicate that and the best way to do that is look what has been successful overseas.
That's the period we're in now and we're taking what has worked overseas and what hasn't worked, and we're using that to inform our US regulatory framework that we're trying to build.
And speaking of which, Cody, I do want to ask in a nutshell how can US regulators strike the right balance here?
Talking to the industry that has been the hardest part and really the door that we've tried to jam through over the last few years is that so much of this was being done in a vacuum.
All of the decisions on how to regulate this industry in the US were being.
Behind closed doors and then the industry was finding out after the fact we're looking for a partnership here we're looking for developers, builders to be able to go into the regulators and say OK here's the product I have how do I make sure that this can operate within the regulatory framework?
And if it can't, how, what do I need to adjust?
How can the regulatory framework adapt to?
My needs how can I my my projects, the regulator regulators needs.
So we're just looking for that open door policy.
This should be done together.
We want to collaborate.
The regulators are not experts on this technology and the industry is not expecting them to do.
Likewise, the industry is not experts on regulation and the government, so if we can work together, then we can have a clear, consistent framework.
Yeah, and speaking of which, working together, I do want to get your take on Trump's pick for the CFTC, Michael Selig.
So here's someone who has experience in industry, and he's even worked for Cryptoad, correct?
So what do you make of his nomination?
I couldn't be happier with the pick of Mike.
Mike is a champion for this industry.
He is not only someone who knows the digital asset industry well, but he knows government really well.
He worked for Cryptoad, Christian Carlo at the CFTC.
He is now chief counsel at the SEC.
He has worked at the SEC's crypto task force.
He's worked in private practice representing digital asset companies in front of the government.
He is the foremost expert on market structure regulation, the largest hurdle we have to getting that US regulatory framework.
He's an excellent pick.
I am super excited to support Mike's nomination.
I hope there's a swift confirmation process because this agency has been working for too long without a confirmed set of commissioners, so it's a great pick by President Trump.
And finally, Cody, before I let you go, we're about to enter day 26 of the US government shutdown, something that we will continue to keep our eyes on.
But looking ahead to 2026 in the spring, I understand the DC blockchain summit is also coming up.
So give us a sneak peek into this.
The DC blockchain summit is the.
Largest and leading policy summit for all blockchain technology.
Last year at the DC blockchain summit we had 30 members of Congress.
We had members from the SEC, the CFTC, the Trump White House.
It is an opportunity for policymakers and the industry to sit on stage together and talk about the future.
We have about 1000 people come to meet us in DC.
It's cherry blossom season, so I hope everyone.
Uh, can come out because it's a beautiful time in DC, but it really is a policy conference that focuses on digital assets and not a digital asset or a crypto conference.
We want the conversation to be able to find real solutions.
We want those those collaborative conversations where digital asset leaders and the policy makers can talk side by side on what's next.
We don't want to talk about what's happened in the past we've done that.
For a very long time now, but where are we going?
We've passed the Genius Act this year.
Hopefully we'll pass the market structure bill.
We've seen a White House crypto report.
We need to talk about what the next 3 years of this administration looks like and beyond, and that those conversations will be taking place at the DC blockchain summit.
OK, Cody, great to have you join us as Money 2020 gets underway here in Vegas.
I look forward to speaking with you again.
Thanks so much, Remy.
Thank you.
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