By Hannah Lang
(Reuters) – Capitol Hill’s tension over President Donald Trump’s various cryptocurrency ventures escalated on Tuesday, threatening to derail legislative hopes for the digital asset sector by the end of this year.
It was thought that Congress would likely pass laws that would manage digital assets for the first time earlier this year, but Democrats are becoming more and more annoyed as Republican Trump and his family promoted personal crypto projects.
Representative Maxine Waters’ objection to the joint hearing scheduled for Tuesday has filed a lawsuit between the House Financial Services Committee and the House Agriculture Committee.
Trump’s Crypto Ventures includes a so-called meme coin called $Trump, launched in January, and a business called World Liberty Financial, a crypto company partly owned by the president. Social media Trump promoted a private dinner for his top holders of meme coins later this month, along with a “special VIP tour” for several investors.
The business effort has elicited criticism over potential conflicts of interest from government ethics experts and political opponents, particularly as Trump courted cash from the crypto industry on the campaign trail and pledged to overhaul sector regulations.
They also have more laws relating to suspected cryptocurrency this year as some lawmakers have expressed concerns about self-dealing.
“While Republicans have refused to halt or even admit Trump’s abuse of power, I cannot agree to discuss crypto market structures for such hearings,” Waters said in a statement ahead of the scheduled hearing.
French Hill, Republican chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said Waters, who opposed Tuesday’s hearing, “slapped partisanship on what was historically strong, good, working bipartisan relations.”
In a statement, White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said there was no conflict of interest and that Trump’s assets lie in the trust his children manage.
“President Trump is dedicated to making America the world’s crypto capital and revolutionizing digital financial technology,” she said.
Still, Trump’s crypto deal threatens to derail the law once thought to have been identified to pass this year by analysts and lobbyists. Congress is also discussing a bill that will create a regulatory framework for Stablecoins, a kind of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a certain level of value, typically a 1:1 dollar peg.
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