May 28, 2021

House Representative Tom Emmer, of Minnesota, is one of the most active voice for crypto and blockchain in the US government. In this episode, he discusses:

• what book made Tom fall down the crypto rabbit hole 
• why Tom believes the Financial Accounting Standards Board needs to set clear accounting standards for cryptocurrencies
• why the current way of accounting for Bitcoin on balance sheets may be a detriment to companies in the future
• how he feels about the acting head of the OCC putting together a “sprint team” of federal regulators to establish overarching crypto standards
• why he is fighting to change tax rules for forked coins
• what problems the Eliminate Barriers to Innovation Act might solve
• why he is so passionate about the Securities Clarity Act, which would explicitly separate digital tokens from securities
• how DeFi should be regulated and why he is not a fan of FATF’s recently proposed guidance
• Tom’s prediction for when these bills may actually become law 

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021 

Tezos: https://tezos.com/discover?utm_source=laura-shin&utm_medium=podcast-sponsorship-unconfirmed&utm_campaign=tezos-campaign&utm_content=hero  

NEAR: https://near.org 

Episode Links

Tom Emmer

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/RepTomEmmer 
• Website: https://emmer.house.gov/ 

Documents Mentioned

• FASB letter
• • https://emmer.house.gov/2021/5/emmer-urges-fasb-to-issue-clear-accounting-standards-for-virtual-currencies
• Eliminate Barriers to Innovation Act
• • https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbrett/2021/04/22/us-house-passes-bill-to-create-first-crypto-task-force-on-digital-assets/
• Safe Harbor for Taxpayers with Forked Assets Act
• • https://emmer.house.gov/2021/5/emmer-introduces-legislation-to-protect-taxpayers-with-digital-assets-pending-further-irs-guidance
• Securities Clarity Act
• • https://emmer.house.gov/2020/9/emmer-introduces-legislation-to-provide-clarity-for-digital-assets-under-securities-law
• Proposed FATF Guidance (quick breakdown)
• • https://www.coincenter.org/a-quick-analysis-of-fatfs-2021-draft-cryptocurrency-guidance/ 

Miscellaneous

• Congressional Blockchain Caucus
• • https://congressionalblockchaincaucus-schweikert.house.gov/members
• US Regulatory “sprint”
• • https://decrypt.co/71975/us-agencies-sprint-align-on-bitcoin-regulations 
• Michael Saylor episode
• • https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-bitcoin-now-michael-saylor-on-the-best-way-for-companies-to-buy-bitcoin/
• Age of Cryptocurrency
• • https://www.amazon.com/The-Age-of-Cryptocurrency