Si los republicanos ganan el control del Congreso en las elecciones intermedias de noviembre, las personas que siguen de cerca la tecnología financiera esperan presión sobre los reguladores para impulsar reglas amigables con las criptomonedas en la línea de meta.

Los legisladores de ambos partidos se han unido en una legislación que regularía la industria luego de un año caótico con la falla de una moneda estable y las quiebras de las empresas de préstamo de criptomonedas. Bitcoin, una de las criptomonedas más populares, perdió más del 60 % de su valor desde noviembre de 2021.

Los republicanos, sin embargo, han sido particularmente entusiastas en querer reglas de tránsito más claramente definidas por parte de los reguladores. El senador Patrick J. Toomey, republicano de Pensilvania, por ejemplo, ha reprendido a los reguladores por no brindar más claridad.

Y los republicanos también están en contra de que el gobierno cumpla un papel que ven como dominio del sector privado, un ejemplo es una moneda digital del banco central emitida por la Reserva Federal.

Lee Reiners, director de políticas del Duke Financial Economics Center en Carolina del Norte, dijo que los republicanos se han unido en torno a la opinión de que la Fed no necesita crear su propia moneda digital porque competiría con las monedas estables que ya están en el mercado.

"¿Me sorprendería si presentaran un proyecto de ley que prohibiría a la Reserva Federal emitir una moneda digital del banco central o un dólar digital?" Reiners dijo en una entrevista. "No me sorprendería".

Los republicanos son los favoritos para ganar la Cámara, pero la lucha por el Senado es menos segura. Inside Elections con Nathan L. Gonzales informa que los márgenes del Partido Republicano se han reducido a medida que se acercan las elecciones.

Sin embargo, incluso en un Congreso dividido, algunos piensan que es probable que se tomen medidas sobre las criptomonedas.

"Creo que independientemente de lo que suceda con las elecciones de noviembre, el Congreso seguirá teniendo ganas de actuar sobre la legislación relacionada con las criptomonedas y las monedas estables", dijo Kristin Smith, directora ejecutiva de Blockchain Association, en una entrevista. Las Stablecoins son tokens digitales cuyo valor está ligado a un activo como el dólar.

Han estado circulando proyectos de ley bipartidistas. Un proyecto de ley, presentado en agosto por la presidenta de Agricultura del Senado, Debbie Stabenow, demócrata de Michigan, y copatrocinado por el miembro de alto rango John Boozman, republicano de Arkansas, otorgaría a la Comisión de Comercio de Futuros de Productos Básicos la autoridad para regular algunos de los productos básicos digitales más grandes, incluidos bitcoin

Una similar, presentada en julio por la patrocinadora, la senadora Cynthia Lummis, republicana de Wyoming, y copatrocinada por la senadora Kirsten Gillibrand, demócrata de Nueva York, establecería a la CFTC como el principal regulador de las criptomonedas, pero incluye una amplia gama de otras criptomonedas. provisiones y también tiene implicaciones fiscales.

Se espera aún más legislación de Maxine Waters, D-California, presidenta del Comité de Servicios Financieros de la Cámara, y Patrick T. McHenry de Carolina del Norte, el miembro de mayor rango y probable presidente del panel si los republicanos toman la Cámara.

"He is very passionate about these issues," Smith said of McHenry. "So I think he may be more of a driving force than if the Democrats (keep) control." McHenry would work to get something done quickly, Smith added.

A central bank digital currency, a digital form of money that would be issued and backed by the Fed, however, is an issue that could be more partisan, Smith said.

Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minnesota, chair of the Blockchain Caucus, introduced a bill in January that would ban the central bank from issuing a CBDC directly to individuals.

Banks or fintech?

Agencies are also moving forward on potential new rules.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is considering rules for customer data sharing, Reiners noted. A proposal that would give bank customers control over their data would affect the relationship between traditional financial accounts and third-party apps such as Venmo.

Banks mostly are not keen on being required to share their customers' data, in part because it is extremely valuable, Reiners said. That could mean a choice for Republicans on whom they support most—banks or the fintech industry, he said.

"Historically Republicans have been broadly supportive of the banking industry, so this would kind of pit two of their constituencies against one another," he said.

Republicans could also smooth the path for what some call "rent-a-charter" arrangements, in which fintech companies partner with banks to make loans. If a nonbank fintech lending platform is underwriting loans, it is subject to state-by-state lender licensing requirements and also state-by-state interest rate and fee restrictions, according to a post by Reiners and Joseph Caputo for the Duke Financial Economics Center.

Many fintech lenders are already partnering with banks to avoid state restrictions by structuring their arrangements with banks so that the fintech credit platform markets to potential borrowers and the bank underwrites the loan, they said.

Democrats view it as a new form of payday lending, while Republicans view it as competition that benefits consumers by giving them more choice, Reiners said.

Late in former President Donald Trump's administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued the "true lender" rule determining that a bank, and not the fintech company, is making the loan, therefore allowing such arrangements. Many on the left worried the rule would allow predatory interest rates for low-income consumers, Reiners said.

Congress used the Congressional Review Act to overturn the rule in June 2021.

At the time, President Joe Biden said "loan sharks and online lenders" had figured out how to get around interest rate caps. "These are so called 'rent-a-bank' schemes," Biden said. "And they allow lenders to prey on veterans, seniors, and other unsuspecting borrowers … trapping them into a cycle of debt."

Republicans want to see that true-lender rule come back.

"That would be a pressure applied directly to the OCC and the FDIC [Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation]," Reiners said.

A Republican Congress also would mean increased oversight on regulators led by Biden appointees, said Aaron Klein, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

"Regulators have significant, independent authority, and determined regulators can usually move forward even in the face of congressional opposition," Klein said.

Klein said he expected the election impact on fintech regulation to be minimal.

"Perhaps the biggest change would be if Republicans took the Senate and slowed the nomination process for new appointees," Klein said.

Nicole Valentine, fintech director of the Center for Financial Markets at the Milken Institute, said she anticipates some momentum in legislation and hearings in the next term.

"The United States is a market leader, and it would be great to see their continuation of leadership in this era of fintech and crypto," Valentine said. + Explora más

Fintech experts divided on form for US central digital currency

2022 CQ-Roll Call, Inc.

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