Key Points:
- Rep. Maxine Waters will obstruct a joint hearing regarding a new crypto market structure bill planned for Monday.
- Democrats intend to conduct an independent hearing focusing on President Trump’s increasing associations with cryptocurrency.
The leading Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Maxine Waters, has made it clear that she will oppose the proposal for a joint discussion with the House Agriculture Committee on a recently released draft concerning market structure legislation. Under current House guidelines, agreement from all involved in a joint hearing is essential. Waters intends to veto this collaboration, motivated by President Trump’s recent and growing involvement with crypto.
Last week, the Financial Services and Agriculture Committees announced plans for a combined hearing on crypto market structure issues, unveiling the preliminary bill focusing on how regulatory bodies like the SEC and CFTC would govern cryptocurrencies earlier today.
A Democratic staffer highlighted, “Ranking Member Maxine Waters has been vocal about Trump’s crypto-related actions, urging inquiries into his conduct. Before the meeting scheduled for tomorrow, Ranking Member Waters informed Chairman Hill that she would not permit this hearing to proceed unless Republicans integrated clauses intended to restrict Trump from profiting from crypto at the expense of investors.”
Politico was the first to report on Waters’ impending opposition to the joint session.
Amid recent developments, Trump has planned a dinner for the 220 holders of his TRUMP memecoins. Additionally, Eric Trump recently announced that Abu Dhabi-based MGX will employ World Liberty Financial’s stablecoin for a significant investment in Binance. Moreover, Freight Technologies expressed intentions to purchase $20 million in TRUMP tokens to impact U.S.-Mexico trade policies.
Democratic staff members informed CoinDesk that Waters and fellow Democrats on the Financial Services Committee will hold their own inquiry into Trump’s crypto-related connections, including those involving World Liberty Financial.
In response, a representative for Chair French Hill stated, “Since the last Congress, we’ve engaged in successful bipartisan discussions about market structure legislation. We invite Ranking Member Waters to reconsider her stance and participate in the hearing to convey her thoughts.”
