Payments

Letters and Testimonies

Letters to Congress

Title Recipient Date
Sen. Josh Hawley 09/20/23
House Financial Services Committee 09/19/23
House Financial Services Committee 07/19/23
House, Senate Leaders 07/14/23
House, Senate 07/11/23
House Financial Services Committee 06/13/23
Senate, House leaders 06/09/23
House Financial Services Committee 05/05/23
House Financial Services Committee 04/19/23
Rep. Tom Emmer 03/08/23
Senate, House 11/17/22
House, Senate 10/11/22
Senate 10/04/22
House 09/27/22
House 09/21/22
Senate 08/31/22
House Financial Services Committee 07/22/22
Senate Judiciary Committee 05/04/22
Senate Judiciary Committee 05/02/22
Sens. Cruz, Braun, Grassley 04/04/22
Rep. Tom Emmer 04/04/22
Congress 07/27/21
116th Congress 10/15/20
U.S. House Task Force on Financial Technology 09/29/20

Letters to Regulators

Title Recipient Date
Federal Reserve, Justice Department, Treasury Department 03/22/24
BIS Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures 02/28/24
Letter to Regulators 01/30/24
FinCEN 01/23/24
Federal Reserve 11/27/23
IRS 11/13/23
Federal Reserve 10/20/23
IOSCO 10/18/23
White House, Treasury Department 10/12/23
International Organization of Securities Commissions 07/31/23

Testimony

Title Committee Presenter Date
House Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion Written Statement 09/13/23
Senate Banking Committee Written Statement 02/13/23
Senate Banking Committee Written Statement 07/28/22
House Financial Services Committee Written statement 05/25/22
Senate Banking Hearing 02/15/22
House Financial Services Committee Written statement 02/08/22
Senate Banking Committee Written Statement 12/14/21
House Financial Services Committee Written statement 12/07/21
HSFC 09/29/20

Payments News

Treasury crypto sanctions portend broad regulatory response

Sep. 22, 2021

Financial regulators on Tuesday began cracking down on cryptocurrency exchanges and laid out significant concerns with digital assets.

Sanctions: The Treasury Department announced the first-ever sanctions on a crypto exchange—Russia-based SUEX—as part of a government-wide effort to combat ransomware attacks. Treasury said over 40% of SUEX’s known transaction history is associated with illicit actors.

Ransomware: More broadly, Treasury said virtual currency exchanges are critical to the profitability of ransomware attacks and that it will continue targeting these entities to reduce incentives for cybercriminals.

OCC’s Hsu: Also Tuesday, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu revealed deep skepticism of digital asset innovations in remarks to the Blockchain Association. Among his remarks, Hsu said:

  • The cryptocurrency and decentralized finance sector is replete with scams, innovations that do little more than increase trading, and few solutions for the real economy.
  • Some of those who will be hurt in the crypto space are the least likely to be able to afford it.
  • Stablecoins and other crypto instruments pose systemic risks.
  • Financial innovation should be anchored in purpose.

Background: Recent ICBA blog posts detail growing stablecoin risks to consumers and the financial system, how policymakers are responding, and what DeFi means for community banks.