Chairman hill apparently felt the need to address this outburst, clarifying that the Republican side of the subcommittee welcomed any legislative effort from Democrats and that all his party has done is revised the bill from where it stood in September. In no way, he said, is the bill posted to the hearing, the be all or end all. This really is an opportunity for both sides of the aisle to fully engage with this superb panel and think through the right way to revise the good work of waters and mchenry last fall. Now again, what's not being spoken is why the stablecoin legislation fell apart at the end of last year. Part of it was the simple reality of political schedules with everyone dealing with their own reelections in the fall, but part of it was the fact that even throughout the negotiations, there was a loud part of the Democratic Party and specifically the Biden administration that, according to people in Washington, who were there at the time, believed that any legislation at all was a legitimizing force for crypto, and so should be opposed. I hate how partisan this industry is becoming. But when you have one party who has an entire wing that believes that an industry shouldn't even exist, and that any legislation to give it rules of the road would be tantamount to saying it's allowed to exist, how are you going to get anything done? Now, on to who was actually testifying, this was one of the absolute bright spots of this whole thing. We heard from Dante deporte, the chief strategy officer for USD C issuer circle, Austin Campbell, adjunct professor at Columbia business school, former head of portfolio management at paxos and recent guest on this show, Jake stravinsky, chief policy officer at the blockchain association and Uber, Twitter threader, and then the folks who were nominally supposed to be the not crypto crowd. Adrienne Harris, the superintendent for the New York State Department of financial services, which oversees the bit license state regulatory scheme, and the late edition of delicia Reynolds hand, who's the director at financial fairness, which is a consumer advocacy group. Let's talk first about Austin Campbell, who was recently on this show and whose testimony naked called out. In it, Austin explains the status of the U.S. regulatory landscape on a granular level. And makes the case for clear stablecoin regulations as a tool to continue the dominance of the U.S. dollar well into this century. Campbell opened by explaining the difference between the various instruments called stablecoins and advocated for more clarity in the language. Many things he said are called stablecoins which should not be. What we need is clarity to define stablecoin so that we understand that stablecoins built right are not new and a relatively mundane financial instruments. The main thrust of Campbell's testimony was a warning that the current regulatory framework for stablecoins is his word chaos. Issuers have no idea which regulator will come knocking, and this lack of certainty is pushing firms offshore. He said I can say this with certainty because I advise my clients right now to do exactly that. Campbell argued that this status quo is not only bad for jobs and the status of the U.S. dollar, but it's quote particularly bad for national security, as blockchains have a significant degree of transparency. Next up, Jake stravinsky gave a simple message to the subcommittee on behalf of the more than 100 companies represented by the blockchain association. Congress, he said, must pass stablecoin legislation. Jake argued that this moment is pivotal while enemies of the U.S. are actively undermining the global dominance of the dollar. Presented three main points. First, that the U.S. payment system had failed to keep up with digital technology and the always open economy that goes along with it. Second, that the dollar is under threat from competitors like the digital yuan. And the best way to bolster its global use quickly is to spread U.S. dollar stablecoins around the world. Third, the the entrepreneurs that are interested in building this industry are already leaving for more friendly jurisdictions. Adopting stable Quinn legislation now, he said, we'll send an important message to the job creators and the taxpayers in the blockchain industry that they are still welcome here at home. Congressional mainstay Dante deporte gave a rundown of the technology and capabilities of circle's USD C he explained that circle had always taken a quote regulatory first approach based on trust, transparency, accountability, and financial integrity. USD C he said had facilitated more than $10 trillion in transactions across more than 90 countries. He joined the other panelists and warning that the U.S. is falling behind due to a lack of a clear regulatory framework. Financial innovation, inclusion and protecting the integrity of the financial system, he said, are not competing objectives. Finally, there were the two witnesses who were nominally supposed to be not pro or at least not clearly so. There was that late addition delicia Reynolds hand who presented a wide range of consumer concerns from the lack of payments reversals in the cryptosystem to the commingling of funds and some crypto firms. Her critics definitely were less about stablecoin specifically and more about the crypto industry as a whole. For example, she discussed the targeting of African American populations in crypto advertising, and the need for protection of minority investors. Now one interesting note about that is that by any statistical measure, basically, non white Americans are much faster adopters. This makes sense if you understand the patterns of historical discrimination and how much harder it is for minority communities to get good banking access in America. Whether that means they need more consumer protection is a reasonable and open question. But the distinction I'm trying to draw is that African American communities aren't being targeted more by crypto advertising because they're more susceptible. They're being targeted as a desirable consumer because they're already opting into the system.