FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 6, 2025

CONTACT: Jarice Thompson, jarice@ourfinancialsecurity.org

AFR Statement Commending Ranking Member Waters for Standing up to Crypto Corruption

Washington, DC – Mark Hays, Associate Director for Cryptocurrency and Financial Technology:

More members of Congress are recognizing that just like oil and water, consumer protection and crypto corruption don’t mix. Trump’s crypto empire has become a source of profits and power that shows blatant disregard for ethics — even as he promotes crypto policies that will enrich him and his crypto allies — which has become impossible to overlook. These crypto policies are allowing a kind of government-sanctioned corruption to flourish in broad daylight like we have never seen before. Trump and his crypto pals seem to be turning our democracy into a large scale crypto kleptocracy.

We applaud House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Maxine Waters’ (D-CA) for drawing a line and scuttling today’s planned joint committee hearing because Committee Republicans stubbornly refuse to address the serious conflicts of interest raised by President Trump’s crypto ventures. Her actions sent a clear signal that Congress must prioritize consumer protections and financial stability, not the self-enrichment of the President and his crypto billionaires.  

Since crypto’s outrageous political spending in the 2024 election, the industry has held sway over Washington politics, using the fear of SuperPAC spending to block political appointees, cripple the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and install crypto cronies into positions within other financial regulators and the White House. We hope the actions members of Congress have taken today signal that enough is enough. Congress cannot push pro-crypto industry legislation that exposes people to crypto’s many risks, harms, and undue influence at the same time the first family is so deeply embedded in that same business. 

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