Who?

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) — Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee; Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Senate Judiciary Committee

Ask a Polasks:

Is there still a bipartisan path to getting crypto regulation done — or did the Trump family derail it?

Key Booker:

“I think there’s still a very good bipartisan pathway to get something done,” Sen. Cory Booker exclusively tells Ask a Pol Crypto.

Caught our ear:

“The wild west basically on regulating it invites all kind of not just corruption, but also really dark, sinister activities that we have a chance to curtail and stop,” Booker tells us.

TRANSCRIPT: Sen. Cory Booker

SCENE:(NEED! — Matt Laslo will fill in from his notes)

Matt Laslo: “What did you do to crypto?”

Sen. Cory Booker: “I swear I didn’t break it.”

Laslo: “I hear you all derailed it.”

CB: “No.”

Laslo: “Am I getting talking to too many Republicans over here?”

CB: “I think there’s still a very good bipartisan pathway to get something done.”

Laslo: “Did what derailed it at the end? Was it the Trump family?”

CB: “I wouldn’t say it’s derailed. I mean, clearly there’s going to have to be ethics rules there. I think the Wall Street Journal’s story about the crypto chic is an obvious example of why — it is so unethical not to have any kind of ethics. But I hear from the other side that they’re willing to work with us on that. So I still think this has a bipartisan pathway to getting done and I’m going to be relentless in working to get it done.”

Laslo: “Are you guys hearing more from like the Coinbases of the world or the regulators themselves?”

CB: “I hear from every interested party. From the regulators to consumer advocates, to industry, to consumers themselves. This is obviously something that there’s a chorus of people that want it done and done right. And so that’s one of the reasons why it takes a lot of my time and energy, folks.”

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Laslo: “So you don’t think any of these entities are now like, we’re better off if we wait till after the election?”

CB: “I think the wild west basically on regulating it invites all kind of not just corruption, but also really dark, sinister activities that we have a chance to curtail and stop. There’s a lot of illicit activity in this space that we should be working really hard for national security purposes to stop. In addition to that, for me, the consumer protections are urgent. But I wanted to work in this space because of the democratizing forces of blockchain. We really are seeing a lot of opportunities being created for people that have been screwed over by the large finance industries in the first place.”

Ask a Pol AI Disclosure:

Ask a Pol’s playing around with as many new AI tools as we can, so this small, unfunded startup can compete in today’s new media landscape. (generative) AI isn’t tomorrow’s tech — it’s yesterday’s…

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