Today, Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA), Chairman of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC) and author of the Digital Asset Market Structure and Investor Protection Act, released the following statement after President Biden signed an Executive Order outlining, for the first time, a whole-of-government approach to mitigating the risks and leveraging the potential benefits of digital assets and their underlying technology.

“Fraud and market manipulation in the digital asset market highlight the need for additional oversight to address the regulatory gaps that leave consumers and our financial system vulnerable. I applaud this critical first step to align the federal government’s approach to this multi-trillion-dollar market. President Biden’s Executive Order recognizes the need for further analysis and study on how digital assets affect consumers and the broader economy, while taking vital steps to crack down on illicit finance and address risks to national security.

“At the same time, the Order empowers the U.S. government to establish leadership and international competitiveness in the digital asset marketplace. It provides a path forward to mitigate the risks that these assets pose to everyday investors and our collective financial stability, while also harnessing the benefits of future technological innovation.

“While this order correctly takes a broad approach that covers many of the important policy concerns around digital assets, the order does not clearly delineate regulatory responsibility between the SEC and the CFTC. Neither does it directly address stablecoins and the role they play in linking the worlds of traditional and decentralized finance. This underscores the need for Congress to act promptly to properly regulate these assets—as last year’s President’s Working Group on Financial Markets report recommended. The Digital Asset Market Structure and Investor Protection Act I introduced last year would address those two issues, while complementing the goals of the Executive Order.

“I look forward to working with the Biden Administration and my colleagues in Congress to advance a common-sense regulatory approach in line with today’s Executive Order.”

The Joint Economic Committee recently held a hearing to explore the economic costs and potential benefits of the growing market in cryptocurrencies and digital assets.