US Presidential Hopeful Ramaswamy to Release “Comprehensive Crypto Policy Framework” Before Thanksgiving

Business, Compliance, Regulation / Source: AdobeA major candidate for the US Presidency is on the verge of releasing a “comprehensive crypto policy framework”.

Speaking at a crypto event on Wednesday, Republican Party presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy announced plans to release the framework by Thanksgiving (on 23rd November).

Crypto data company Messari CEO Ryan Selkis, who Ramaswamy was speaking to in a “fireside chat” at an event, said that he had seen the framework and that it was already around 75% complete.

Ramaswamy didn’t speak for long, but he was highly critical of what he called “three-letter” agencies, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which he said were an unconstitutional fourth branch of government.

Ramaswamy last month celebrated a ruling in favor of crypto asset manager Grayscale, which was seen as favorable for the crypto industry given it said the SEC had no grounds to reject Grayscale’s spot Bitcoin ETF application.

Crypto Legislation is Coming

GOP president candidate Ramaswamy’s embrace of crypto comes as lawmakers in the US increasingly turn their attention to the rapidly growing crypto sector.

Back in summer 2022, bipartisan Senators Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand introduced broad legislation to regulate the entire crypto sector in the US, which was up until then the most comprehensive effort yet to regulate the industry.

However, the legislation hasn’t seen much progress in the last year.

But a more limited bill relating to the regulation of US dollar-pegged stablecoins has been making more progress.

A key House committee advanced a stablecoin bill earlier this summer, setting up a potential vote on the House floor.

While Ramaswamy’s chances of becoming president remain slim – he is second in the GOP polls after ex-President Donald Trump – the embrace of crypto across Congress and the US political landscape suggests that legislation is coming sooner or later.

Crypto industry leaders in the US have been highly critical of the lack of legal clarity pertaining to the industry, which has been worsened in 2023 by the SEC’s crackdown on major US crypto firms, which the agency broadly accuses of listing or offering unregistered securities to their customers.

Fellow GOP presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis has marked himself out as staunchly pro-Bitcoin since announcing his bid for GOP leadership.