Representative Maxine Waters, a prominent Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, intends to obstruct the upcoming hearing on cryptocurrency regulations due to concerns about President Trump’s increasing connections within the industry.
Waters is against a collaborative hearing involving both the House Financial Services Committee and the House Agriculture Committee, according to a Democrat aide. This decision hinders any progress since the joint hearing needs approval from all committee members.
Instead, House Democrats will conduct their own hearings to scrutinize Trump’s crypto endeavors, including his Memecoin and World Liberty Financial.
This development follows the release of a draft proposal concerning the digital asset market structure from Republican leaders on two committees.
Waters communicated to House Financial Services Chair French Hill that she would not consent to a joint hearing unless the legislation includes measures to prevent Trump from benefiting financially from the industry.
Trump and his family have been significantly expanding their crypto investments as his administration looks to introduce new regulations for the sector.
World Liberty Financial, the crypto firm established by Trump and his sons, revealed last week that a company based in the UAE plans to use a new Stablecoin for a $2 billion deal on Binance.
Later this month, Trump is scheduled to attend a dinner with significant investors involved in his memecoin, which has seen a 60% increase in value recently. This has prompted some Democrats to push for ethical investigations.
Additionally, Trump, along with David Sacks of Crypto Czar, is expected to participate in a $1.5 million fundraiser with crypto and AI investors on Monday.
The actions by House Democrats represent a notable resistance to cryptocurrency, potentially encouraging Trump and Republican members to expedite efforts for legislation that would create regulatory frameworks for the industry.
After Senator John Tune sought support for the bill, a coalition of pro-crypto Senate Democrats expressed their backing for the Stubcoin Act over the weekend.
The senator successfully moved the bill forward from the Senate Banking Committee but accused Republicans of attempting to undermine the proposal without engaging in further discussions.
“They want us to simply vote for this bill without considering our views,” wrote Senator Ruben Gallego in a post on X. “Our statement is clear: we’re not allowing them to dictate terms. We aim to improve this bill.”
