1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: I'm Stacy Marie Ishmael, Managing editor of Crypto for Bloomberg News. 2 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:10,520 Speaker 1: And this is Bloomberg Crypto, a new daily podcast from 3 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:19,239 Speaker 1: Bloomberg and I Heart Radio. It's Friday, June three. Cryptocurrencies 4 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:22,840 Speaker 1: are increasingly popular as investments. Everyone from traders on Reddit 5 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:25,720 Speaker 1: to big institutional shops like Fidelity seem to have a 6 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:29,000 Speaker 1: crypto strategy. But what happens when the people investing in 7 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:31,840 Speaker 1: this asset class are also the ones in charge of 8 00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:35,959 Speaker 1: regulating it? Senators like Pat too Me of Pennsylvania. So 9 00:00:36,159 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 1: I'm just asking the SEC to provide some clarity. Let 10 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 1: us know, why do you think this is a security? 11 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:44,520 Speaker 1: What are the characteristics? And Cynthia Lemus of Wyoming known 12 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:47,760 Speaker 1: to many as somewhat of a bitcoin evangelist, so I'm 13 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:51,840 Speaker 1: very confident that bitcoin will withstand the test of time. 14 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: Both hold crypto investments while also considering who and how 15 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: might potentially regulate this asset class. So what are the 16 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 1: ethical implications when members of Congress buy and hold bitcoin? Today? 17 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:07,800 Speaker 1: I speak with bloombag reports Aquila Gardner about how to 18 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:15,920 Speaker 1: regulate the regulators. Welcome with Kaela. Thank you, Stacy, Marie. 19 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:19,520 Speaker 1: Great to have you. So, first of all, you've been 20 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:21,720 Speaker 1: reporting on this, tell me a little bit about your story, 21 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:25,480 Speaker 1: what you've found so far, what's interesting. So basically, we 22 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 1: got some data from a research organization called two i Q, 23 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:33,320 Speaker 1: and they track the trading habits of Congress members and 24 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:36,200 Speaker 1: really compile the things that they're investing in. And so 25 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:40,120 Speaker 1: what they found is about one point eight million dollars 26 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: worth of crypto related investments owned by members of Congress. 27 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:47,800 Speaker 1: And so those include stocks that are related to crypto, 28 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:52,480 Speaker 1: like coin based block which obviously offer trading, and that 29 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 1: also includes cryptocurrencies like your bitcoin, your theory um doche coin, 30 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:03,200 Speaker 1: and investments in crypto investment funds. And what's interesting about 31 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 1: this is all the funds that were invested are owned 32 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:09,320 Speaker 1: by gray Scale, which is one of the biggest crypto 33 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:13,919 Speaker 1: asset managers, and there's about two or three um Congress 34 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: members who have holdings and Gray Skill investment funds. Got it. So, 35 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:20,959 Speaker 1: you said a couple of things that I find really interesting, 36 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:23,200 Speaker 1: And I want to start with a kind of a question, 37 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:26,440 Speaker 1: which is, as you were reporting this, were you surprised 38 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:29,959 Speaker 1: by either the size of the investments or you know, 39 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:31,480 Speaker 1: maybe you thought it was small, maybe you thought it 40 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: was big, or even just the names of the folks 41 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:36,640 Speaker 1: who were popping up in this data sets. I think 42 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: what was interesting is just the amount there was twenty 43 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: one members in total who fall under that um, eleven Democrats, 44 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 1: ten Republicans. But more interesting perhaps was the amount of 45 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:53,799 Speaker 1: senators representatives who hold cryptocurrencies, because obviously you have to 46 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:56,400 Speaker 1: kind of go out of your way to invest in those. 47 00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 1: Some of the stocks are just a part of a 48 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 1: four one K exact, a fun that they might have 49 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 1: that's managed by a third party. But that number was 50 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:09,240 Speaker 1: particularly interesting. The people that actually own bitcoin, ethereum and 51 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 1: some even fringe names like Basic Attention Token like those 52 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:18,200 Speaker 1: investments were really interesting. And then also the investment funds 53 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:21,200 Speaker 1: because they're becoming more popular, but still they're not as 54 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:24,919 Speaker 1: widely held as your four one case, your retirement savings. 55 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 1: Got it. So, folks in Congress own lots of things 56 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:30,600 Speaker 1: all the time. They have access to lots of information 57 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:33,640 Speaker 1: all the time. With crypto and with some of what 58 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:37,720 Speaker 1: you're describing, some of the conflicts are perhaps less immediate. 59 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 1: Right there's as you've identified, this is still a growing 60 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:45,119 Speaker 1: asset class. It's much less widespread but this is also 61 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 1: an asset class that is under intense regulatory scrutiny right now, 62 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:52,720 Speaker 1: and some of these folks, some of these members may 63 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:58,560 Speaker 1: have themselves be considering sponsoring bills about regulating crypto, or 64 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 1: you know, are on committee is that are interested in 65 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 1: regulating crypto. Can you tell me a little bit more 66 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:06,720 Speaker 1: about what you found on that angle. I think you 67 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:09,480 Speaker 1: bring up an interesting point, which is this debate has 68 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:12,800 Speaker 1: kind of happened for a long time, whether it's tech 69 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:16,560 Speaker 1: stocks or defense stocks. You know, there's always been questions 70 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:19,159 Speaker 1: should you serve on the Committee of Armed Services and 71 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:22,039 Speaker 1: also hold defense stocks? And the same thing goes for 72 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:25,720 Speaker 1: tech and so it's really interesting about crypto, particularly because 73 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:29,159 Speaker 1: it's still so early in that process of regulation. And 74 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 1: the two committees, or the two areas of committees both 75 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:34,360 Speaker 1: in the Senate in the House. Um that we looked 76 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:37,640 Speaker 1: at in this story was the Committee of Agriculture and 77 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:40,520 Speaker 1: the Committee of Banking, and those go under different names 78 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: under different chambers, but those committees are particularly important because 79 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:49,880 Speaker 1: they oversee the SEC and the CFTC, the two biggest 80 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 1: potential regulators for crypto at the moment. There's a bit 81 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 1: of a tug of war right now about which cryptocurrencies 82 00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:00,679 Speaker 1: are considered commodities and which are considered securities. And different 83 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 1: Congress members have different motivations for why they want one 84 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:07,760 Speaker 1: regulator to take more control than another, and so it 85 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 1: was definitely interesting. Seven of the members that we found 86 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:13,159 Speaker 1: in this study are part of those committees, so you 87 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:16,479 Speaker 1: have to consider how their investments might play into their 88 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:19,760 Speaker 1: decision making, because whether we like it or not, regulation 89 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:22,240 Speaker 1: does have an impact on the market and on the prices, 90 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:26,039 Speaker 1: and oftentimes when big regulatory actions come out, it can 91 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:29,479 Speaker 1: move the needle on whichever coins of the day, and 92 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:33,279 Speaker 1: that's something that's definitely being raised with our story. So 93 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:35,680 Speaker 1: one thing we should know is none of this is 94 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:40,279 Speaker 1: technically illegal right right there. There's no rule that says 95 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:42,760 Speaker 1: you're not allowed if you're thinking about a bill that 96 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:46,520 Speaker 1: regulates bitcoin miners to hold or not hold bitcoin. I 97 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: know folks are very strong opinions about whether there should 98 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:52,120 Speaker 1: in fact be more rules, but I'm interested in hearing 99 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:57,200 Speaker 1: what are the members themselves saying about any of this. Well, 100 00:05:57,240 --> 00:05:59,919 Speaker 1: some of the big names in this story was Senator 101 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: Pat to Me, who owns investments in gray Scale, speaking 102 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:06,719 Speaker 1: of sensative to me. He was on CNBC recently talking 103 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:11,039 Speaker 1: about regulating crypto. Let's listen to that. I'm not in 104 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:13,240 Speaker 1: the camp that thinks that there should never be any 105 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:16,120 Speaker 1: kind of regulation over any cryptocurrency, and that saw my 106 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:18,440 Speaker 1: position at all. But I do think there needs to 107 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:22,200 Speaker 1: be transparency and objectivity about what we're doing here, and 108 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:25,760 Speaker 1: the SEC is taking enforcement actions without first having laid 109 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:29,680 Speaker 1: out how they interpret how they apply existing securities law 110 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:34,040 Speaker 1: to this really really important and innovative new category of finance. 111 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:39,919 Speaker 1: His spokesperson says crypto makes up less than one percent 112 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:43,680 Speaker 1: of his portfolio, but he explicitly said he does not 113 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:46,440 Speaker 1: support the kind of proposals that are out there right 114 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:51,640 Speaker 1: now that specifically ban individual investments in stocks or other 115 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:55,160 Speaker 1: categories bonds and something like crypto might fall under that 116 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:58,320 Speaker 1: as well, because he doesn't want it to deter people 117 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:00,920 Speaker 1: who could potentially run for cong Roice or for Senate. 118 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:04,320 Speaker 1: So he sees it as there's just too much in 119 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:07,640 Speaker 1: the economy that Congress overseas to restrict any of these. 120 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:10,520 Speaker 1: But we should say some of these proposals, there's multiple 121 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:14,679 Speaker 1: out there, have support from both parties. There's bipartisan support 122 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:18,400 Speaker 1: for some of these proposals that would ban these individual investments. 123 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:20,800 Speaker 1: But yeah, a lot of the people we spoke to, 124 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:24,720 Speaker 1: especially people who have stocks like coin Basin Block, said, 125 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:28,120 Speaker 1: you know, my portfolio is managed by someone else, but 126 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:31,680 Speaker 1: even the thought or the realization of knowing that those 127 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:34,720 Speaker 1: things could be in their portfolio could still impact their 128 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:39,440 Speaker 1: decision making. When we return, a look at another crypto 129 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:43,680 Speaker 1: enthusiast who also happens to be a sitting Senator, Wyoming's 130 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:58,800 Speaker 1: Cynthia Lemmas, we'll be right back. Okay, So you know, 131 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:02,080 Speaker 1: in the story you mentioned in the SEC and the CFCC, 132 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:05,960 Speaker 1: the Commodity Future of Trading Commission are still figuring out 133 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:09,720 Speaker 1: this kind of regulatory context. It's it's a pretty big 134 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:12,000 Speaker 1: tug of war between the two committees that you reference, 135 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:14,960 Speaker 1: the Sundate Banking and Agriculture. Do you find that there 136 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 1: were more members from those particular committees than you were expecting, 137 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:22,840 Speaker 1: or any like individual ones other than to me. Another 138 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:27,400 Speaker 1: person is Senator Loomis Um. She's been a longtime investor 139 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 1: in bitcoin. She's very outspoken about her belief that bitcoin 140 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:35,200 Speaker 1: and crypto is an avenue for freedom, and she's also 141 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:39,000 Speaker 1: putting forth a bill that would set out some guidelines 142 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:42,840 Speaker 1: for the SEC and the CFTC under which they can 143 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:47,480 Speaker 1: regulate certain spot markets, futures markets. And that's something that's 144 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:50,840 Speaker 1: really interesting because she's also partnering with somebody on AGGS. 145 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:54,800 Speaker 1: She sits on the Banking Committee with to me as well, well, Okayla, 146 00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:56,960 Speaker 1: we actually have a clip of Senator Loomis thanks to 147 00:08:56,960 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 1: our producers. Here's what she has to say recently on 148 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:03,679 Speaker 1: Meet the Press about the need for cryptoregulation. So I'm 149 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:07,760 Speaker 1: very confident that bitcoin will withstand the test of time. 150 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:13,040 Speaker 1: I'm not confident that every other digital asset that's out 151 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:19,679 Speaker 1: there has the same qualities of permanence and complete decentralization. 152 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:23,520 Speaker 1: So there's some fraud that's going to occur, which is 153 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:26,000 Speaker 1: why I think it's so important for the United States 154 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:32,120 Speaker 1: to create a regulatory framework that allows for innovation but 155 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:36,600 Speaker 1: still creates rules of the road that protect individual privacy, 156 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:41,240 Speaker 1: but that also have disclosure components to them, so the 157 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:48,680 Speaker 1: purchaser knows what they're getting, and you just have to 158 00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:51,319 Speaker 1: wonder someone who holds bitcoin for a long time and 159 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:54,560 Speaker 1: her range that she reported is between fifty thousand and 160 00:09:54,559 --> 00:09:57,280 Speaker 1: a hundred thousand, and value of the bitcoin that she holds. 161 00:09:57,280 --> 00:09:59,559 Speaker 1: So that's a pretty big number or a pretty big 162 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:02,120 Speaker 1: range at pretty big range as well. Yes, we should 163 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:05,360 Speaker 1: note that as well, that all of the representatives have 164 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:08,520 Speaker 1: to report a range in the assets that they hold, 165 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:11,200 Speaker 1: regardless of whether they're crypto or not um and so 166 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:14,320 Speaker 1: that one point eight million number is a range of 167 00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:16,920 Speaker 1: all of the things that they reported. So that's a 168 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:20,640 Speaker 1: particularly interesting one because you have someone who's outspoken about 169 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:23,280 Speaker 1: where she believes certain things should fall under, and you 170 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:27,280 Speaker 1: have to think about how that could potentially impact her holdings. 171 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:30,800 Speaker 1: Thank you. One other thing about these reports is, as 172 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:34,000 Speaker 1: you say, it represents the value of the crypto held 173 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:36,960 Speaker 1: at that moment in time. So one of the fun 174 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:40,360 Speaker 1: things fun slash challenging things about crypto as an asset 175 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:42,959 Speaker 1: class is it's really volatile. And so if we were 176 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:45,240 Speaker 1: having this conversation two months, you could be saying that 177 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:47,480 Speaker 1: that one point eight million number is a lot bigger 178 00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:50,600 Speaker 1: or a lot smaller, even if none of the members 179 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:54,520 Speaker 1: had acquired or sold any crypto as a report to 180 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:58,439 Speaker 1: do you find that covering this asset class is more 181 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:01,680 Speaker 1: or less challenging because of this volatility and the kinds 182 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:03,280 Speaker 1: of data that you have to be looking at to 183 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:06,840 Speaker 1: really get the full story. I think that's an interesting question, 184 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:10,600 Speaker 1: especially because bitcoin right now is trading in such a 185 00:11:10,679 --> 00:11:14,640 Speaker 1: tight range. It's hard to know how much their assets 186 00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:17,920 Speaker 1: are really valued because they don't have to report exactly 187 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:20,600 Speaker 1: how much they hold. But the thing to know is 188 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:23,120 Speaker 1: it has to be over at least a thousand dollars. 189 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:26,360 Speaker 1: So these ranges are pretty wide, but we don't actually 190 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:29,679 Speaker 1: have a full picture of how much they're investing in, 191 00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:33,160 Speaker 1: whether it's these individual tokens or the stocks. We we 192 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:36,120 Speaker 1: don't have that full picture to see how much UM 193 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:38,000 Speaker 1: it's impacting. And so that's why we have to reach 194 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:40,679 Speaker 1: out to these members and ask them, why can you 195 00:11:40,679 --> 00:11:43,120 Speaker 1: give us a better idea so we can let readers 196 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:47,400 Speaker 1: know what exactly you're holdings entail. So that's like something 197 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:50,000 Speaker 1: like Senator to me telling us that it's one percent 198 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:52,800 Speaker 1: of his asset class. It gives us a better picture. Okay, 199 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:56,080 Speaker 1: this is how much Disco potentially impact him personally. I 200 00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:58,079 Speaker 1: should say a lot of the other members gave much 201 00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:02,480 Speaker 1: less detail um into those amounts, But that's something that 202 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:05,079 Speaker 1: would be great to have if we could have that data. Yeah, 203 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:07,719 Speaker 1: I would love just a list of the wallets addresses 204 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:09,520 Speaker 1: of all of the different members that would be That 205 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:12,120 Speaker 1: would be fantastic and definitely make our lives easier. So 206 00:12:12,240 --> 00:12:14,360 Speaker 1: tell me who are the players and what is the 207 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:18,960 Speaker 1: partisan or bipartisan representation that you're seeing. So we found 208 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:23,679 Speaker 1: twenty one members of Congress own crypto related investments, and 209 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:27,800 Speaker 1: so that includes stocks like coin base and block It 210 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:34,120 Speaker 1: also includes cryptocurrencies like bitcoin ethereum, and these crypto investment 211 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:37,120 Speaker 1: funds which are all under Gray Scale, which happened to 212 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:39,600 Speaker 1: be issued by Gray Skill. And we found that the 213 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:44,080 Speaker 1: breakdown of that is Democrats Republicans is eleven to ten. 214 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:48,199 Speaker 1: Democrats were much more likely to own these stocks as 215 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:51,400 Speaker 1: a part of perhaps like a widely held fund or 216 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:55,400 Speaker 1: an education trust. Another thing to mention to. These reportings 217 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:58,960 Speaker 1: also include the holdings of their spouses, perhaps their children 218 00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:03,920 Speaker 1: as well the household exactly. But the kind of differences 219 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:07,320 Speaker 1: is definitely Democrats tend to hold more of the stocks, 220 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:11,560 Speaker 1: while Republicans happened to dabble more in the cryptocurrencies and 221 00:13:11,559 --> 00:13:14,680 Speaker 1: the funds. I want to also, you know, you mentioned 222 00:13:14,679 --> 00:13:19,360 Speaker 1: there's kind of both bipartisan supports and bipartisan rejection of 223 00:13:19,679 --> 00:13:21,599 Speaker 1: some of these various proposals. Can you tell me a 224 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:23,920 Speaker 1: little bit more about any of the Dems that popped 225 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:27,480 Speaker 1: up in this data sets. One Democrat who invested in 226 00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:32,560 Speaker 1: we call this category like cryptocurrencies or funds focused specifically 227 00:13:32,679 --> 00:13:36,280 Speaker 1: on crypto So that Democrat was Marie Newman. She had 228 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:39,959 Speaker 1: investments in a gray Scale fund. She declined to comment 229 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:43,240 Speaker 1: for this story, but yeah, again, it's interesting to see 230 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:46,240 Speaker 1: the amount of people that are specifically gravitating towards gray 231 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:49,800 Speaker 1: Scale um. That could say something about why people are 232 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:53,320 Speaker 1: choosing this. And what's interesting about Gray Scale is they 233 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:56,520 Speaker 1: have a big lobbying effort right now for the SEC 234 00:13:56,760 --> 00:14:00,320 Speaker 1: to approve lots of comment letters exactly to prove a 235 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:03,200 Speaker 1: spot bitcoin et F. So they're having a really big 236 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:05,520 Speaker 1: push for that right now. And you have to think 237 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:08,199 Speaker 1: about if members are investing in gray Skill, how does 238 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:11,960 Speaker 1: that impact their thinking when they're communicating with regulators, when 239 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:14,520 Speaker 1: regulators are coming to the House or the Senate to 240 00:14:14,559 --> 00:14:17,320 Speaker 1: be questioned. And that's something important to talk about. Two 241 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:21,240 Speaker 1: is this relationship between the regulators and Congress. While they're 242 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:26,120 Speaker 1: technically separate, Congress votes them in, they can organize hearings, 243 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:30,400 Speaker 1: They have tremendous agenda setting powers, and so even though 244 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:35,240 Speaker 1: there's a separate relationship, there's still very much communication throughout 245 00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:38,720 Speaker 1: the year, and Congress members are constantly letting them know 246 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:41,200 Speaker 1: what they think is the best idea and if they 247 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:44,720 Speaker 1: should choose to make regulation, that would be law over 248 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:48,200 Speaker 1: anything the regulators do individually. And so that's another thing 249 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:51,960 Speaker 1: is will Congress actually put legislation in place in terms 250 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:55,520 Speaker 1: of crypto or will the regulators kind of work themselves 251 00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:58,840 Speaker 1: out with different actions. I talked to one lawyer who 252 00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:02,040 Speaker 1: said he thinks it's less likely that we'll see legislation 253 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:05,880 Speaker 1: and more likely that regulators will just kind of come 254 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:09,000 Speaker 1: out with their own stances and kind of work it out. 255 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:13,400 Speaker 1: There's a lot of legal implications too, so there's question 256 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:16,440 Speaker 1: exactly all of these things are kind of working themselves out, 257 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:19,040 Speaker 1: But we can't negate the fact that Congress has this 258 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:25,680 Speaker 1: tremendous agenda setting power. You can find more of a 259 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:29,200 Speaker 1: Kala gardeners reporting on Bloomberg dot Com, the Bloomberg Terminal 260 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:33,000 Speaker 1: on Twitter. A Gardener a Kala on the next episode 261 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:36,680 Speaker 1: of Bloomberg Crypto. Sometimes it's good to define our terms, 262 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:39,360 Speaker 1: even for those of us who do this for a Living. 263 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:43,720 Speaker 1: Join me Monday for a conversation with Bloomberg's Hannahmilla and 264 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:47,920 Speaker 1: Vildana Hodrick. We'll be reviewing their handy Crypto glossary. You'll 265 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:57,120 Speaker 1: hear about terms like staking, bridges and more. I'm Stacy 266 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:00,920 Speaker 1: Marie Ishmael and this is Bloomberg Crypto Daily podcast from 267 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:03,880 Speaker 1: Bloomberg and I Heart Radio. For more shows from I 268 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:07,240 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 269 00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:11,640 Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts. Email your comments, questions 270 00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:15,640 Speaker 1: or suggestions to Crypto at Bloomberg dot net and you'll 271 00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:20,080 Speaker 1: find us on Twitter at Crypto. The producer and editor 272 00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:24,160 Speaker 1: of this episode is Vicky Vergelina. Our engineer is Blake Maples. 273 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:28,800 Speaker 1: Original music by Leo Sidran. Bloomberg's head of Podcasts is 274 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:29,600 Speaker 1: Francesca Levi