Binance and former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao struck a landmark deal with U.S. prosecutors last week that will see the company pay $4.3 billion—one of the biggest fines in corporate history—and at least one lawmaker is touting that as evidence the U.S. doesn’t need new laws for crypto.
House Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) said in a recent post on X, formerly Twitter, that the current regime governing cryptocurrencies is just fine, a contrary stance to what some lawmakers, including in his own party, and most cryptocurrency advocates believe.
“Yesterday’s successful prosecution shows that when enforced, current laws are suitable to help weed out bad actors,” he wrote in the post.
The lawmaker said that instead of creating new laws, Congress should put more effort into stepping up its recruitment of crypto companies to the country.
“Congressional resources should instead be spent working to bring more crypto activity and opportunities onshore to bolster U.S. national security,” he added.
Emmer’s bluntness on the issue doesn’t bode well for a handful of bills moving their way through Congress, including one regarding stablecoins introduced by Emmer’s colleague Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.).
For years, leaders in the crypto industry, often critical of the government’s approach to regulation, have been calling for laws that would bring market structure and clarity to the industry. Some have also pointed out that a majority of the G20 countries have already either proposed or enacted meaningful crypto legislation.
Meanwhile, crypto critic Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) seized on Binance’s deal with prosecutors to call for more government action against the industry, noting in a post on X that Binance allegedly flaunting anti-money laundering laws was part of a larger trend and “sadly predictable.”
“Law enforcement and national security officials need additional authorities and resources to pursue money laundering, sanctions evasion, & criminal activity facilitated through crypto,” she wrote.
