Gottheimer holds roundtable with Commodity Futures Trading Commission chairman, crypto, financial services leaders

MAHWAH TOWNSHIP, NJ (Bergen County) — U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) Tuesday held a roundtable at Ramapo College of New Jersey with Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Rostin Behnam and entrepreneurs and leaders from the financial and cryptocurrency industries.

The group discussed how the rapid development of crypto, blockchain, and related fintech is changing the financial industry, and steps Congress is taking to bring more certainty to the digital economy.

Gottheimer and CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam were joined by asset management firms, banks, crypto exchanges, trade associations, and digital asset lenders including Blackrock, Grayscale, Fidelity, Anchorage Digital, BNY Mellon, Apex Crypto, Coinbase, FTX, Uniswap, Crypto Council on Innovation, and Genesis Global Lending.

“In Congress, I’ve made it my mission to ensure that the United States leads the development of emerging technologies, and that the federal government provides the certainty needed for the country to serve as a hub for financial innovation. If there is no dialogue between Congress and business, lawmakers will craft policy from an uneducated point of view. We need to make sure we keep crypto out of the hands of nefarious actors, protect consumers from snake oil salesmen, and give them the appropriate access to the right products,” said Gottheimer (NJ-5), a member of the House Financial Services Committee. “That’s why I’ve developed legislation, the Stablecoin Innovation and Protection Act, that would create guardrails for stablecoins and ensure that they are all backed one-to-one with cash or equivalents to prevent runs like we saw with the so-called ‘stablecoin’ Terra earlier this year. There are several proposals being considered by Congress that could move the ball forward for digital assets, including a new bill on stablecoins that is coming together with great promise in the House Financial Services Committee. There are still some details we have to work out, but I’m bullish on the bill.”

“The most important thing that I do is get outside of D.C. to engage with constituents, to learn from them. As the Congressman said, it allows me to do my job better,” said CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam. “It’s important for me to work with elected officials and to understand what issues and concerns are out there. For me, a priority is all about customer protections, protecting markets, the integrity of markets, and understanding that markets need to be fair, transparent, and orderly.”