According
to
Waters
and
Lynch,
the
measures
open
the
door
to
widespread
crypto
fraud
and
serve
to
legitimize
what
they
describe
as
President

Donald
Trump‘s
“crypto
corruption.”

“Just
days
after
passing
one
of
the
most
egregious
billionaire
giveaways
in
American
history
and
ripping
basic
needs
away
from
American
families,
Republicans
are
at
it
again.
They’re
doubling
down
by
fast-tracking
a
dangerous
package
of
crypto
legislation
through


Congress,”
Waters
said
in
a
statement.

“Aside
from
lacking
urgently
needed
consumer
protections
and
national
security
guardrails,
these
bills
would
make
Congress
complicit
in
Trump’s
unprecedented
crypto
scam
—
one
that
has
personally
enriched
himself,
his
entire
family,
and
the
billionaire
insiders
in
his
cabinet,
all
while
defrauding

investors.”

Lynch
expressed
concerns
that
the


House‘s
Clarity
Act
and
the


Senate’s
GENIUS
Act
will
“not
only
further
President
Trump’s
corruption,”
but
“expose
our
financial
stability,
national
security,
and
consumer
protections”
to
greater
risk.

“My
Republican
colleagues
are
eager
to
continue
doing
the
bidding
for
the
crypto
industry
while
conveniently
ignoring
the
vulnerabilities
and
opportunities
for
abuse
that
exist
in
crypto
—
especially
given
President
Trump’s
acceptance
of
billions
of
dollars
in
investment
in
his
family
crypto
business
from
foreign
governments
and
his
blatant
conflicts
of
interest,”
Lynch
said
in
a
statement.

“The

volatile
and
risky
nature
of
crypto
products
and
the
lack
of
investor
protections
will
likely
have
devastating
consequences
on
Americans’
financial
lives,
and
Congress
cannot
allow
it
to
undermine
our
traditional
financial
markets,
which
are
the
envy
of
the
world.”

A
press
release
from
the


U.S.
House
Committee
on
Financial
Services
via
Waters’
office
said
that
the
initiative
builds
on
efforts
by
committee
Democrats
to
push
back
on
Republican-led
crypto
legislation
while
raising
concerns
about
Trump’s
involvement
in
the
sector.

Waters
and
others
also
introduced
the
“Stop
TRUMP
in
Crypto
Act,”
which
would
bar
the
president,
vice
president,
members
of
Congress
and
their
families
from
engaging
in
crypto-related
financial
activity.

Democrats
later
used
a
procedural
maneuver
to
hold
a
second
hearing
with
their
own
witnesses
and
organized
a
session
with
experts
to
review
the
Clarity
Act.
During
the
bill’s
markup,
Democrats
proposed
nearly
30
amendments,
all
of
which
were
rejected.

Separately,
under
Waters’
leadership,
the
committee
has
created
task
forces
on
financial
technology
and

artificial
intelligence.
It
also
formed
a
digital
assets
working
group,
which
held
22
hearings
during
the
past
two
congressional
sessions
to
examine
developments
in
the
crypto
space.

Late
last
month,

Federal
Housing
Finance
Agency
Director
Bill
Pulte
announced
that
the
government-sponsored
enterprises

Fannie
Mae
and

Freddie
Mac
will
begin

preparing
for
the
use
of
cryptocurrency
in
the
mortgages
they
purchase.

The
directive

lacked
specifics
on
how
the
GSEs
will
integrate
crypto
into
risk
models,
underwriting
or
collateral
pricing.
Despite
that,
some
mortgage
professionals
think
there
is
value
in
pursuing
crypto-backed
lending
—
especially
in
the

non-QM
space.

The FHFA‘s
directive
provides
few
details
on
how Fannie and Freddie will
integrate
crypto
into
risk
models, underwrite loans
or
price
collateral.

“I
think
there
are
a
lot
of first-time
homebuyers that
have
ventured
off
into
this
space.
They’ve
made
some
good
money
and
they,
just
like
nonqualified
borrowers
in
general,
are
having
a
hard
time
getting
access
to
capital
through
traditional
means,”
Roby
Robertson
of

LoanLogics
told

HousingWire.

On
Thursday,
the
Senate confirmed
Jonathan
Gould
as
head
of
the Office
of
the
Comptroller
of
the
Currency
(OCC).
That
move
is
expected
to
advance
the
Trump
administration’s
pro-crypto
agency
as
Gould
has
previous
experience
with
a
company
that
specializes
in
crypto
mining
hardware
and
supports
more
lenient
oversight
of
banks
in
relation
to
crypto.