'It's Evidence Of Corruption': Dick Durbin Unleashes On Trump Over His Crypto Currency

5 months ago

During a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing in July, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) spoke about President Trump's cryptocurrency, Trump Coin.

Transcript

00:00Senator Garvin.

00:02Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:03We've said over and over again we have securities and commodities.

00:06We've got to make a careful definition, but I think there's more to the story.

00:11In the Clarity Act, which will receive a vote in the House this week,

00:14they create a loophole for crypto tokens known as collectibles.

00:19That means those crypto tokens won't have to register with financial regulators

00:23and would benefit from a lighter-touch regime.

00:25In fact, collectibles aren't even considered digital commodities in the bill

00:30and are basically exempt from most requirements.

00:33When Coinbase, one of the largest crypto exchanges, went to court with the SEC,

00:38Coinbase, I believe he's a member of your organization, Mr. Kim,

00:42Coinbase argued that the tokens listed in the SEC's complaint

00:45were neither securities nor commodities.

00:49Coinbase's lawyer argued in court these tokens were like beanie babies,

00:52securities, meaning just trading collectibles.

00:56But these collectibles can involve multi-millions of dollars.

01:00Just ask President Donald Trump, who listed his own meme coin

01:04on exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken,

01:08two exchanges that are part of the Crypto Council for Innovation.

01:12President Trump's meme coin has no real use and trades its values

01:15basically on popularity and hype, just like a beanie baby.

01:20But that did not stop President Trump from auctioning off his meme coin

01:24and giving top investors, get this, access to a face-to-face dinner

01:29with the President of the United States.

01:31Not only did President Trump make $315 million in fees

01:37by selling his meme coin, get this now, too,

01:40$764,000 unique wallets lost money to the President's scheme.

01:48Talk about Toby and Edith.

01:50All the while, crypto exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken

01:53claim they had a robust listing process

01:55and continue to perform due diligence on and on.

01:59So, Mr. Massad, let's start with you.

02:03What concerns, if any, do you have about a huge exception

02:05for collectibles in any crypto market structure legislation, number one?

02:09And number two, you talked about a black eye to the industry,

02:13this transaction involving the President.

02:16I think it's more than a black eye.

02:18I think it's evidence of corruption.

02:20And the question, the bottom line, as far as I'm concerned,

02:22is what does the industry do if they're afraid of the President

02:27when it comes to regulation?

02:29Thank you for the question, Senator.

02:31First, on the collectibles, I agree with you.

02:33The Act, the Clarity Act, does exclude those as commodities,

02:37and I think the rule should be that digital commodity exchanges

02:41can't trade anything unless they're covered by these rules.

02:45And what I would suggest to you, Senator,

02:47is why don't you write all the big platforms,

02:50Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini.

02:52If it's so clear, if the Clarity Act is so clear

02:56as to what's a digital commodity,

02:58ask them to tell you, of the hundreds of things they list,

03:01which ones are digital commodities,

03:03and see what answers you get.

03:05Mr. Sexton, what do you think?

03:13With regard to those types of tokens, coins,

03:19I can tell you that we approach it from a slightly different angle,

03:26and that is we regulate the conflicts

03:32that may be embedded within our members.

03:39I'll have to ask you to make a brief conclusion to your answer

03:43so I can ask one other question.

03:45Go ahead.

03:46In 2024, the FBI reported that Americans lost $16.6 billion

03:53to crypto schemes, 33% increase over the previous year.

03:59The type of scam I'm concerned about

04:01and it involves a machine called a crypto ATM.

04:05Mr. Sexton, do you know how many we have in our state

04:07of crypto ATM machines?

04:09I can tell you I don't know the exact number, Senator,

04:12but quite a few.

04:14I can tell you it's 1,600.

04:16So what happens with a crypto ATM?

04:18They put them in grocery stores and shops.

04:21They're basically the way they victimize senior citizens

04:26and people in minority communities.

04:30Once a victim places their hard-earned cash

04:32into one of these machines,

04:33it disappears into a criminal's wallet,

04:36almost impossible to get back.

04:38Here's how it works.

04:39Scammers call an unsuspecting victim,

04:42tell them they owe taxes to the IRS,

04:44a penalty for failure to appear for jury duty.

04:47Not to worry, they can pay it off at a crypto ATM.

04:50They direct them to the nearest crypto ATM.

04:53These people put their life savings,

04:56in some instances,

04:57into the criminal's digital wallet.

05:00In 2024 alone,

05:02scammers stole nearly $250 million from Americans

05:05and the stories are heartbreaking.

05:07This industry ought to wake up to this reality.

05:10There's a misuse of one of their operative machines

05:13to scam people over and over again

05:16with huge sums of money.

05:18You want to be known as a reputable industry?

05:21Do something reputable like protecting consumers.

05:24About 15 states have done it.

05:26All of them should.

05:27And we should put something in the federal bill.

05:29When the Genius Act came before the Congress,

05:31I wanted to offer this amendment.

05:33No amendments.

05:34Take it or leave it on the Genius Bill.

05:36Well, if we have a second chance,

05:38whether it was clarity or Genius returning,

05:40let's at least think about the consumers for a few minutes.

05:43Thanks, Mr. Chairman.

'It's Evidence Of Corruption': Dick Durbin Unleashes On Trump Over His Crypto Currency

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