Minnesota Republican Representative and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer believes the Biden administration is unfair to the crypto industry. According to Emmer, the government has unfairly targeted Bitcoin (BTC) miners.
Emmer is against an emergency request sent from the Energy Department’s analytical arm, the Energy Information Administration (EIA), to 82 Bitcoin mining firms, for information about their energy consumption. This request is under the purview of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and was approved by the Office. According to a Fox report, Emmer sent a letter to the OMB demanding answers.
Emmer’s displeasure and attempted protection of the crypto industry may cover other digital assets outside of Bitcoin, especially those that require mining. However, even non-mining assets can benefit from favorable regulations, or at least the expansion possible when authorities are not bearing down on the sector. Some of the best meme coins, as compiled by Alan Draper from cryptonews.com, are enjoying massive market rallies and may see more adoption without government crackdowns.
According to Fox, Emmer disagrees with the use of “emergency” in the request. The Majority Whip says the EIA needs to provide enough evidence that Bitcoin mining is dangerous to public safety. In addition, Emmer’s letter specifically complains about regulators sidestepping standard requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act. These requirements compel federal agencies to seek public comments before collecting specific information.
Several digital assets that use the proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism apply the mining process, which requires expensive hardware and is very energy-intensive. The energy needed to power crypto mining, especially with Bitcoin, is one of the most common and long-standing criticisms of the crypto sector and its sustainability. Nonetheless, Emmer doubts that the administration really wants to sanitize the industry. According to the Fox report, the Minnesota Representative believes the government will use information from the miners to push its anti-crypto campaign.
Unfortunately, the federal administration does not seem very supportive of the crypto sector. This is evident in the lack of clear rules for the industry and the seeming exploitation of this lack of clarity to witch-hunt the sector, as many crypto supporters have noted. In general, clear crypto rules tend to expand adoption and allow the development of crypto-focused businesses across several budding sectors. For instance, the online casino industry, which allows players to use cryptocurrencies instead of fiat, will likely benefit significantly from clear rules and advancements in favorable crypto regulations.
For a while, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have targeted major cryptocurrency firms, including exchanges Binance and Coinbase, to reduce illicit activity perpetrated via crypto. The Binance case eventually led to co-founder and former Chief Executive Officer Changpeng (CZ) Zhao leaving his CEO position and pleading guilty to federal money laundering charges. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is now seeking a three-year prison sentence and a $50 million fine against the former CEO.
Emmer and many other crypto supporters worry that the Biden Administration will continue to crack down against the crypto sector. Interestingly, the House Majority Whip recently posted an image of a presentation given to his staff by the US Federal Reserve (Fed). According to the image, the Fed believes that a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is an important part of its “key duties” regarding payment systems. This development suggests that the Biden Administration may be supportive of a CBDC instead of decentralized digital assets.
