On Wednesday, a measure was introduced in the Senate by Senator Ted Cruz, which calls for introducing crypto payments in some regions of the Capitol.
This is an indication of the continued focus of Republicans to introduce regulations pertaining to the use of digital assets.
| Name | Price | 24H (%) |
|---|---|---|
 Bitcoin(BTC) | $107,414.00 | 4.19% |
 Ethereum(ETH) | $4,048.04 | 3.88% |
 Dogecoin(DOGE) | $0.410290 | 1.97% |
 Cardano(ADA) | $1.11 | 2.26% |
 Polygon(MATIC) | $0.61 | 0.44% |
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The directive
Officials who are responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations within the Senate and the House of Representatives will have to comply with the new directive.
This means that they would be permitted to work with vendors who are willing to accept payments in digital assets for goods as well as food services.
The areas of the Capitol that have been referenced in the proposal are those where digital payments would be functional, such as vending machines and gift shops.
Cruz had come up with a similarly worded document last November in which he had called for the adoption of crypto, such as bitcoin, as a payment method within buildings of the Capitol.
The Senate’s website dictated that a concurrent resolution put forth the changes, which is usually used for creating and changing the rules that apply to both houses.
There is no need for a signature from the president for it to go into effect, but both the Senate and House would have to give approval for the measure.
Regulatory framework
The move by the senator on Wednesday comes after a subcommittee had been created earlier this month that focuses on digital assets as well as financial technology.
It comes under the House Financial Services Committee and one of its primary goals is to provide federal regulators with clear rules to follow.
Last month, Congressman Patrick McHenry had been appointed as the Financial Service Committee’s chair.
The republican said that their central focus would be to develop a comprehensive regulatory framework that would apply to the digital asset ecosystem.
Crypto mining
Crypto mining has become a rather popular activity in Texas over time, including Bitcoin mining, and Cruz has mostly embraced this industry.
The past summer, the Senator had visited a mining facility and said that he was proud of fighting for crypto in the Senate.
He has been supporting the crypto community for more than a year. The Texan also lent his voice in August 2021 by making amendments to an infrastructure bill worth $1 trillion.
He had called for exempting crypto companies, including Bitcoin miners, from a tax reporting requirement.
While his effort had failed ultimately, the Senator did not back down and introduced legislation later that was aimed at completely repealing the crypto provisions included in the infrastructure bill.
It should be noted that Senator Ted Cruz is also one of the various elected officials who have made financial disclosures about purchasing Bitcoin.
Senator Cynthia Lummis has also done the same. A filing shows that a year ago, Cruz had used the exchange called River Financial to purchase Bitcoin between $15,001 and $50,000.
This shows that he is fully committed to the crypto industry and believes in it.
