With a clearer outcome for the result of the midterm election in the U.S., some analyses predict Republicans could reseize the control of Congress. The shift of balance of power and dynamic discourse power might affect the ongoing regulation of cryptocurrency and virtual assets.
Throughout the election campaign, many leaders and enterprises in the crypto industry try to expand their influence and abilities to lobby legislators by offering political donations to their candidates in favor.
The mid-term result comes amid the oscillation of the markets after the collapse of the SBF’s crypto exchange FTX, as Changpeng Zhao announced Binance would acquire FTX under a non-binding letter of intent. Despite the terms of the deal were not disclosed or neither was a timeline for when the deal might close, the market has experienced a new wave of turmoil and volatility amid the crypto winter.
Part of analysts suggests a Republican-dominated Congress would likely put pressure on agencies, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which the industry has charged with regulating through enforcement, to ease their aggressive posture against crypto firms.
In June, a bipartisan pair of U.S. senators unveiled a bill that would establish new legal frameworks for cryptocurrency and hand the bulk of their oversight to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
The so-called Crypto bill debate is still ongoing in Congress. The bill, if approved, might empower the CFTC, which considers a more crypto-friendly regulator than the SEC, to oversee the crypto market.
Among controversial issues in regulating crypto, one of the struggles would be the definition of security, which financial products count as security or commodities.
Previously, CFTC Chair suggested that should let Congress regulate crypto, which is much better than the gridlock remaining between CFTC and SEC.
