Crypto execs head to Capitol as Congress mulls regulations

NEW YORK (AP) — Cryptocurrency executives went to Capitol Hill Wednesday to say their fast-growing industry understands more regulation is likely coming, but they don't want it to squelch the next wave of the internet or send it offshore to other countries.

Leaders from major crypto exchanges, mining and other related businesses testified for four-and-a-half hours before the financial services committee of the House of Representatives, which wanted to learn more about how the industry works as it wrangles with how to regulate it. Much of the discussion centered on protections for investors in a burgeoning ecosystem that critics have called the “Wild West.”

Questions from Congressional members ranged from 101-level discourses about what “stablecoins” are — they're digital coins pegged to the U.S. dollar or something similar to hold a stable value — to the technical and arcane. Many questions focused on how stablecoins could help the U.S. dollar hold onto its status as the world's most important currency, as well as on how digital assets could help the millions of Americans without bank accounts or at the fringes of the financial system.

How to regulate digital assets has been a thorny issue, with companies operating under a patchwork of state and federal oversight. There's still disagreement about whether the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory agencies should monitor certain areas of the market, or whether an entirely new regulatory body is needed.

“Currently cryptocurrency markets have no overarching or centralized regulatory framework, leaving investments in the digital asset space vulnerable to fraud, manipulation and abuse,” said California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters, chairwoman of the House financial services committee.

Many Republicans on...