Last year, an estimated 55 million American adults held or used cryptocurrency for financial transactions. And that number is growing annually at a rapid rate. 

If Congress does nothing, this number will continue to grow. And it will grow without the consumer protections that retail investors need and deserve. Protections like those that govern other corners of the American financial system. Congress has a responsibility to put a market structure with guardrails in place to help keep the American people’s investments safe from fraud and undue financial risk. 

The CLARITY Act is not a perfect bill, but it is an important step forward. There are significant concerns still that I hope, during this markup today, we will be able to mitigate. It does, however, take the first step toward putting in place the consumer protections that digital asset markets currently lack, like disclosures and sequestering consumer funds to protect retail investor deposits from being misused. 

In addition to protecting retail investors, the companies operating in this space need clear rules of the road to ensure responsible growth, the ability to innovate and accountability.  

I do want to offer a couple of areas of concern as we consider this legislation. Former CFTC Chair Russ Behnam has testified that the agency would need at least $120 million over three years to fully implement this law and have the infrastructure in place for the CFTC to be successful. 

I would point out to House Ag Committee members that the Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee last week cut the CFTC’s budget by $30 million. While the bill provides for registration fees, those fees mean nothing if appropriators reduce the total funding level for the agency. I would like to make sure that we are all aligned that more resources will be required.  

Second, as written, there is no prohibition in the law preventing the president and vice president from using non-public information of these markets for personal profit or, from sharing such insider information with others, so those close to them can profit. The bill does prohibit Members of Congress, along with federal judges, our collective employees and executive branch employees, from using non-public information acquired from doing our jobs for our own personal benefit. We have an opportunity to fix that during our markup today. 

Thank you, and I yield back.