Navigating the Future: Bipartisan Efforts in Crypto Regulation

And now let's get to the big story.

Breakdown.

All eyes on the nation's capital in midweek trade.

After many years of uncertainty, Washington may be closing in on clear rules for crypto and digital assets.

Now a new push on stablecoin legislation backed by Trump could reset US oversight with lawmakers racing to pass two key bills before the August.

Well, joining me this morning is Cleve Massador, executive director of the Blockchain Foundation.

Cleve, good morning.

So great to see you.

Thanks for joining us.

Well, the first half of 2025 bringing clarity on regulatory progress.

So Cleve, tell me about a balanced approach when it comes to risk mitigation and crypto policy as we head into the second half of the year.

Well, we're seeing more and more bipartisanship in the Senate and in the House, and that's most important, the leadership of, you know, Senator Gallego, Senator, you know, also Brooks, Rochester, others Gillibrand has.

Been part of the conversation for a long time and then the house we're seeing more and more Democrats want to engage.

I, I, I think the issue for Democrats, the access point that they want is to have a conversation around risks where it's around innovation.

And technology has advanced to the point that risk doesn't have to be the third rail, right, that Democrats can say, let's talk about consumer scams and fraud and it not be code for, let's derail this industry.

And so I think that's the access point for more and more, you know, Democrats getting into this space, but I'm excited about where we are on track for stablecoin legislation.

I think there's a lot of work still to be done on market structure and the timeline that's been discussed gives, you know, Congress in both chamber.

Those times to actually get things together and that's important because I think market structure has to be more about small business entrepreneurship.

How do we make sure that we're creating an industry that is accessible and that actually will create opportunity in a decentralized manner.

Yeah, and Cleve, we know that when it comes to the regulatory landscape, expectations tend to differ from reality.

So what do you think needs to happen for greater bipartisanship, especially when it comes to digital assets here?

Yeah, I do think that one of the biggest sticking points actually we all know is.

The Trump family's engagement in the crypto space around all things crypto, and I think Republicans have to be much more open to having a conversation.

I think you know so far Republicans have had, have tried to have conversations about what are some of those guardrails they can put in place.

I don't know if the White House has been as, you know, open to some of those those potential provisions or measures.

I think they have to keep plugging away.

I think you know, Republicans have to recognize that Democrats have a legitimate concern in terms of the way we've approached ethics and disclosures and you know separation from, you know, industries that government over oversee over has oversight over and how they profit from it so.

I think that's gonna be a sticking point for a long time, but I don't think it's going to be something that will will make it impossible to hash out, but I think it will be one where both parties in both chambers have to come together and have some tough conversations within Congress but also with the White House as well, especially if we want market market structure to move forward.

Yeah, and Cleve, I do want to ask you about the role that DFI plays when serving underserved communities here.

So what role do you think CDFIs as well as MDIs can play when actually bridging underserved communities in DFI and what do you think are the opportunities as well as some risks?

Yeah, let's be honest, decentralized finance has been the the pathway for communities of color into crypto since 2010.

The data shows that the earliest adapters were communities of color, and we continue to be the largest part of the crypto ecosystem, and that's because of DFI.

That's because of cryptocurrency, that's because of wealth creation.

And when you look at what which what are the banks that are getting authority to engage in this sector, it's not community banks, it's not CDFIs it's not minority banks, it's not credit unions.

We need to give more authority to these smaller institutions because that's where the largest adoption is happening among communities of color, young people, the working class.

I'm excited that Black Chain Foundation has is.

Actually doing a project with Prosperity now and Kellogg Foundation to actually survey CDFIs and MDIs and and talk to them about what they're hearing from their customers about, you know, define and digital assets but also asking them how they're going to mitigate risk.

I'm excited we'll be convening in Martha's Vineyard in August to.

Talk about decentralized finance.

We do a block chain brain trust.

We treat every year.

This August will be the 3rd year.

I remember we spoke last year right before, right after we were, we were we were breaking down that conference, but the retreat is actually to engage the members of Congress who are under the vineyard every August in a safe place where we can talk about not just the. assets, but how the most the most vulnerable communities are the earliest adapters and and be on Martha's Vineyard and talk about how we mitigate risk but how do we make sure we're not keeping out, locking out the people who have been, you know, the earliest adapters and who really created and boomed this $3 trillion crypto market.

Yeah, and Cleve, I remember we spoke ahead of last year's gathering on Martha's Vineyard and that was right before the election.

But here we are halfway through 2025 and already we are looking at the final two quarters of this year.

So I do want to hear about some of the findings from that national research project regarding policy.

So give us your take on the key takeaways.

Yeah, so we, we've we've we've definitely done a lot of research on where the industry is the, uh, the first report for the foundation on how we mitigate risk but also foster D5 for the most people was last year and we, we've seen the Department of Treasury, you know, fleck the financial literacy.

Federal commission engaged on this conversation.

We were just at Treasury a few months ago during April for Financial Literacy Month.

So and then the wealth creation and Financial literacy caucus led by Congresswoman Joyce Beatty and Yon Kim have been convening public institutions.

So we're excited to do that with the the the project we're launching with.

Foundation prosperity now and Intersect and for Blackchain Foundation is really how do we go deeper, right?

We need to make sure that we're creating a framework, a regulatory and policy framework for this industry that looks at 10 years from now, 20 years from now.

We didn't do that in the 1990s when we debated the the the framework for the Internet.

We have to do that this time and so the research we're doing with Kellogg and Prosperity now is going to help us glean more information based on the research we started last year but we're excited, especially now as market structure and stablecoin move forward and we're looking at, you know, provisions and and potential amendments and measures that can.

Some of these bills.

I'm hoping that the the results and the outcomes from this research that is expected to come out this fall will help to figure out how we can actually do better in terms of making sure that we're being comprehensive forward looking but also making sure we're creating a a new financial system that works for all Americans.

OK, Cleve.

Well, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

As always, I appreciate your time and I appreciate all of your insights and perspectives.

Thank you.