Shirzad expects “significant movement and hopefully passage of both market structure legislation and stablecoin legislation” from next year.
Faryar Shirzad, the Chief Policy Officer at Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN) recently shared his take on this with CNBC. He noted that he sees crypto legislation passing Congress “fairly quickly” in the Trump administration.
Donald Trump‘s victory in the 2024 United States presidential elections is expected to bring ease to the crypto industry. This expectation seems feasible given how aggressively Donald Trump has pushed his pro-crypto agenda.
Coinbase Exec on How Republicans Will Change Crypto
It is worth noting that the Republican party gained a governing trifecta in the just concluded election.
Besides the seat in the White House, Republicans also gained control of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Based on this premise, Shirzad forecasts smoother crypto regulation approval.
He voiced his opinion during an event organized by the UK division of Coinbase-backed advocacy group Stand With Crypto.
“We have the most pro-crypto Congress ever [in] history, we have an extraordinarily pro-crypto president coming into office,” Shirzad said. “I think the combination should finally allow the 50 million Americans who own crypto to have their interests and voice heard in policy.”
Two key pieces of crypto-related legislation have passed through Congress. The first is the Republican-sponsored Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act. This hopes to establish a legal framework for digital assets. It passed in the House of Representatives in early 2024.
The second piece of legislation is the Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act. This bill aims to establish a regulatory regime to license issuers of stablecoins. Unlike the first bill, the stablecoin bill has not yet passed a House vote, but Shirzad is confident it will.
At the same time, the Coinbase executive did not fail to acknowledge the possibility that there is only a “small” chance that the crypto legislation will be considered in the so-called “lame duck” post-election period.
Considering that the year is ending soon, Congress may only approve some of these crypto legislation. Shirzad expects “significant movement and hopefully passage of both market structure legislation and stablecoin legislation” from next year.
The changes at the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are also bound to help the crypto regulation move. At the heart of this is based on the replacement of the current Chairman.
Who Will Replace SEC’s Gary Gensler?
In November, Gary Gensler, the current Chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, announced his intention to depart the agency on January 20, 2025.
This date coincides with Trump’s inauguration. Even before Gensler’s announcement, Donald Trump had promised to fire him once he got into the White House.
There were strong speculations that Robinhood CLO Dan Gallagher or SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce would be a good fit to replace him.
However, Gallagher recently withdrew his interest, emphasizing his strong commitment to Robinhood and the millions of retail investors the company serves. Former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins is also eyeing the position and has emerged as the leading candidate.
Other nominees include Brad Bondi and former OCC Leader Brian Brooks.
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