Senator Pat Toomey: China’s crackdown on crypto is a big opportunity for the United States

Senator Pat Toomey, a Republican, said that the crackdown on digital assets by Chinese authorities opens new opportunities for the United States in the crypto industry.

China’s authoritarian crackdown on crypto, including #Bitcoin, is a big opportunity for the U.S. It’s also a reminder of our huge structural advantage over China.

— Senator Pat Toomey (@SenToomey) September 24, 2021

“The authoritarian repression of China against cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, is a big opportunity for the United States. This is also a reminder of our enormous structural advantage over China,” Toomey wrote.

The senator stressed that economic freedom leads to faster growth and a higher standard of living for all.

“Beijing is so hostile to economic freedom that it cannot even tolerate its people participating in what is arguably the most exciting innovation in finance in decades,” he added.

Beijing is so hostile to economic freedom they cannot even tolerate their people participating in what is arguably the most exciting innovation in finance in decades. Economic liberty leads to faster growth, and ultimately, a higher standard of living for all.

— Senator Pat Toomey (@SenToomey) September 24, 2021

Toomey spoke out amid attempts by the People’s Bank of China to deem illegal the activity of platforms that facilitate cryptocurrency exchanges among themselves or to fiat. Against the backdrop of news of tightening regulation, Bitcoin fell below $42,000.

In late August, Toomey urged U.S. authorities to adapt the legislation to the crypto industry rather than ignore and suppress it.

Earlier, the senator co-authored a crypto-friendly amendment to the provisions of the bipartisan infrastructure plan.

Under the bill’s original formulation, any person providing cryptocurrency transfer services and receiving compensation for it would be required to report to the Internal Revenue Service about the activity of their users.

In a certain interpretation, such requirements could extend to miners and node operators in blockchains, wallet developers, liquidity providers in DeFi protocols, and other non-custodial players.

On August 10, the Senate sent a document to the House of Representatives on cryptocurrencies without amendments. CNBC, citing a Treasury official, reports that the department does not intend to broadly interpret the definition of ‘broker’ for industry participants, even if the infrastructure plan is passed unchanged.

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