US House Of Representatives Dean Phillips Criticizes Biden And Trump About Crypto

Dean Phillips, a member of the United States House of Representatives (photo: x @AndyOstroy)

Dean Phillips, a member of the United States House of Representatives running against US President Joe Biden for the Democratic election in the 2024 presidential election, said that currently "very few" people in Congress understand digital assets.

Speaking at the Crypto Presidential Forum in New Hampshire on December 11, Phillips said he did not "know everything" about financial technology and crypto but criticized US President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump for their position. This US House of Representatives member is the third presidential candidate to speak in front of the New Hampshire crowd after Vivek Ramaswamy and Asa Hutchinson of the Republican Party.

"The two prominent candidates today, both from the left and right, for the US presidency are completely not in a position to understand it, prepare us for it, anticipate it, and lead us to the next century," Phillips said, referring to crypto. "Joe Biden and Donald Trump, at their current age and stage of life, are not the right people to lead us forward."

"No! It is irresponsible or unreasonable to think that your government will do two things at once: consider regulations but at the same time consider how transformative in a positive way it can be," Phillips said.

Phillips said that he has never personally invested in digital assets such as Bitcoin or non-fungible tokens (NFTs). He also added that his potential investment will be in trust or blind trust and calls a conflict of interest in his role as a legislator. Members of Congress must disclose investments, including those involving digital currencies, but there are no significant consequences for legislators who delay filing.

At the time of writing, all presidential candidates speaking at the Presidential Crypto Forum were behind more than double digits from President Biden and Trump, according to many polls. Ramaswamy has become one of the most vocal Republicans on digital assets, releasing a crypto-focused policy platform on the North American Blockchain Summit last November.

While Trump's campaign has dived into aspects of the digital asset space - selling its own NFT line - the former president rarely spoke publicly about crypto. President Biden issued an executive order in 2022 to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets. Under the Biden administration, Justice Department officials have accused former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, and former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky.

Phillips suggested that dysfunctions in Congress have contributed to crypto laws that have not been passed, including Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, or FIT21. The bill, among others, has not faced a full vote in the House of Representatives following the potential closure of the government and Republican legislators who postponed the election of the new Speaker of the House of Representatives.