House Financial Services subcommittee hears competing calls for a federal digital‑assets framework

The House Financial Services subcommittee on digital assets, financial technology and artificial intelligence held a hearing titled “A Golden Age of Digital Assets, Charting a Path Forward,” where lawmakers and industry witnesses pressed for clearer federal rules governing stablecoins, exchanges and decentralized finance.

Chairman Stile opened the hearing and said the technology “presents a clear opportunity for the advancement of financial services in the United States,” while urging Congress and regulators to provide legal certainty so U.S. firms can compete globally. Representative Stephen Lynch, the subcommittee’s ranking member, warned that cryptocurrencies remain “highly volatile and speculative” and urged stronger consumer‑protection and anti‑money‑laundering safeguards.

The hearing brought five witnesses: Jonathan Yajem of Kraken, Ji Kim of the Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI), Coy Garrison (attorney), Jose Fernandez de Ponte of PayPal, and Timothy Masid (research fellow at Harvard Kennedy School). Witnesses largely agreed on the need for a statutory framework but differed on how to allocate regulatory responsibility and on the strength of consumer protections.

Kraken’s witness described the business case for federal clarity, saying the company serves “over 15,000,000 customers around the world”…