Faryar Shirzad, chief policy officer at Coinbase, speaks on stage during the 2024 Annual Concordia Summit at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel on September 24, 2024 in New York City.
John Lambarski | Getty Images for Concordia Summit
LONDON – Coinbase's chief policy officer expects the United States to quickly regulate the cryptocurrency industry once Donald Trump becomes president.
Faryar Sherzad, chief policy officer at Coinbase, told CNBC that he sees cryptocurrency legislation making its way through Congress “fairly quickly” after the Republican president-elect — who ran on a pro-crypto political platform — enters the White House.
The Republican Party also had a triumvirate, controlling both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Shirzad suggested that this would make the process of approving cryptocurrency laws smoother.
“We have the most pro-crypto Congress ever (in) history, and we have a very pro-crypto president who will take office,” Shirzad told CNBC last week at an event organized by the UK chapter of the Coinbase-backed advocacy group, Stand With Crypto. .
“I believe this merger should finally allow the 50 million Americans who own cryptocurrencies to have their interests and voices heard in politics.”
His comments come as two major pieces of legislation related to cryptocurrencies make their way through Congress.
One is the Republican-sponsored 21st Century Financial Innovation and Technology Act, which aims to create a legal framework for digital assets. This bill was approved in the House of Representatives earlier this year.
The other is the Stablecoin Payment Clarity Act, a bill that seeks to create a regulatory system for licensing issuers of stablecoins — tokens tied to the value of fiat currencies like the dollar. The stablecoin bill has not yet passed a vote in the House of Representatives.
Shirzad told CNBC that he is “optimistic” the legislation will pass, but noted that there is only a “slim” chance that cryptocurrency legislation will be considered in the so-called “lame duck” post-election period.
Even if Congress does not greenlight crypto laws this year, Shirzad expects “big movement and hopefully passage of market structure and stablecoin legislation” in 2025.
The leverage of cryptocurrencies
Trump's election win was a major victory for the cryptocurrency industry — but it also highlighted the power of the cryptocurrency lobbying machine.
Cryptocurrency-related political action committees (PACs) — organizations that raise members' donations to fund campaigns — and other industry-related groups have raised more than $245 million, according to Federal Election Commission data.
Meanwhile, the Coinbase-backed Stand With Crypto Alliance has developed a rating system to determine the extent of support or opposition to cryptocurrency candidates for the House and Senate. Nearly 300 pro-crypto lawmakers will hold seats in the House and Senate, according to Stand With Crypto.
Last month, US Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler announced that he would step down from his position on January 20, the date of Trump's inauguration. Trump has long promised to replace Gensler, who took a tough approach to cryptocurrency oversight during his tenure as SEC chairman.
Shirzad said he couldn't predict who the SEC's Trump pick would be, but said the president-elect “is very good at choosing people who share his vision, and he's had a very inclusive platform on cryptocurrencies.”
“I think as long as he chooses someone who is an agent of change and shares his vision, I think that will be good for the United States, good for society, and good for people who own cryptocurrencies,” he added.
