Tuberville Demands Digital Currency Legislation: If We Don’t ‘The Bad Actors Are Going To Take Over’

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Before the Congressional recess, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) questioned experts on digital currencies during a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing.

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Transcript

00:00That is. So, well, on a serious note, Senator Booker, thank you for that sense of urgency.

00:06Thank you for being part of the bipartisan group in the last couple of years who we've

00:09been working so hard to move something forward. So thank you so much for doing that. And now

00:13we will turn to Senator Tuberville.

00:19For the rebuttal.

00:20For the fair rebuttal.

00:21We're not opposition. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Lady Chairwoman. You know, as Senator Booker

00:31just said, digital assets are our future. And for us to lead on this entity, we've got

00:46to encourage innovation. And if we don't, we're not going to make it. The legislation

00:53has got to be there. And I think we all agree with that.

00:56So I've just got a few questions here about this. You know, we all know there's good actors

01:01and there are bad actors. If we don't get legislation, the bad actors are going to take

01:04over. And we've seen some of that.

01:07So, Mr. Chairman, thanks for being here today. A lot of my constituents use event contracts

01:15to hedge risk. Can you assure us that the CFTC's event contract rule will encourage

01:21innovation and not attempt to prohibit or limit event contracts?

01:26Senator, thanks for the question. In short, yes, I will ensure that we support innovation

01:31in any rule that we finalize in the future.

01:34Thank you. Two of your Democrat colleagues on the commission are being considered by

01:40the Senate for new roles. Should they recuse themselves from ongoing CFTC rulemaking as

01:46they go through this confirmation process?

01:48Senator, thanks for the question. It's an important question and certainly one that

01:53we have looked at very carefully since they've been considered for these new positions, respectively,

01:59at the FDIC and Treasury. And based on the legal analysis that we've done and the fact

02:04ultimately that they're going to other government agencies, they do not have to recuse themselves.

02:08But we are happy to

02:09Do you think this is a conflict of interest?

02:12Well, ultimately, recusal should be done in a situation where there is in fact a conflict.

02:17So it's most typically done if a public official is going to the private sector and you don't

02:21want that individual, while they're in their public office, to make decisions that would

02:26benefit a future employer. In this case, since both are going to another public agency, another

02:31government agency, we have not been able to identify any, quote, unquote, conflict of

02:36interest that would require recusal. But we're happy to look at the issue again and

02:40speak with your office, hear your concerns, and have a conversation about it.

02:44Thank you. You know, I've got a bipartisan bill with Senator Gillibrand to prohibit Chinese

02:49entities from acquiring U.S. digital asset, broker, dealer, custodian, or exchange. Do

02:55you think that's the sort of legislation we need?

02:58Senator, you know, it's often dismissed or forgotten that financial markets and the institutions

03:05that comprise financial markets, whether it's a broker, an exchange, a clearinghouse,

03:10are critical infrastructure. They're not necessarily critical infrastructure in the sense that

03:14we would think in terms of national security, but they really are. If we were attacked by

03:19an adversary and one of our core critical financial infrastructures was attacked through

03:24cyber and held up or stopped trading, this would have a huge impact on agriculture, on

03:31energy, and any number of things that impact our economy directly. So I appreciate the

03:36bill that you filed and understand what you're looking to accomplish. And I do think it's

03:41very important, given the nature of financial markets and what our adversaries are willing

03:46to do in making sure that we're preserving national interest and national security through

03:51financial infrastructure.

03:53Thank you. You know, I want your thoughts on how mine crypto assets should be taxed.

04:01Take Bitcoin, for instance. The IRS is all over people that are mining Bitcoin. If you

04:10grow corn, you don't pay tax on it until you sell it. But Bitcoin, if you mine it, even

04:18before you sell it, you have to pay taxes on it. Do you think that's fair?

04:23Senator—

04:24Have you thought about this?

04:26I actually, I have not thought about it until now. Principally speaking, and based on the

04:31way you articulate the analogy, you know, it doesn't sound fair or there's not a clear

04:35sort of analogous policy around it. But, you know, thinking through some of the issues

04:41around mining and the efforts that are required through, you know, energy and otherwise to

04:48mine tokens, you know, perhaps there's a policy reason that the IRS is looking at through

04:54their lens. But I'm happy to look at it more deeply and have a conversation with you. But

04:58I otherwise don't focus too much on the tax code.

05:01Well, please do. You know, if you buy stock, you don't pay tax on it until you sell it.

05:04Correct.

05:05If you buy gold, you don't pay tax on it until you sell it. But if you mine Bitcoin or any

05:10kind of crypto, you know, the IRS wants their money now, whether you're going to make or

05:14lose money at the end of the day. And I think if we're going to encourage people to get

05:19involved in crypto, we need to address this issue pretty quickly, because a lot of people

05:24are being really harassed by the IRS, and they shouldn't be. It should be like any other

05:29entity of where they have the opportunity to invest, and when they make profit, they

05:35pay tax on it that time. So I'd appreciate your thoughts on it, you know, when you can

05:41sit down and really think about it and talk to your people.

05:43I'd be happy to.

05:45Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

05:46Thank you very much. Senator Warnock.

05:51Thank you very much, Madam Chair, and thanks to you.

Tuberville Demands Digital Currency Legislation: If We Don’t ‘The Bad Actors Are Going To Take Over’

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