The Chamber is Turning 4!

July 19, 2018 by Chamber

The Chamber is Turning 4!

This summer, the Chamber of Digital Commerce turns four as the world’s largest trade association representing more than 200 of the most exciting and inventive companies in the digital asset and blockchain industry. We’re proud of the work we’ve accomplished, the relationships we’ve created, and the overall growth and transformation we’ve seen across the blockchain ecosystem.

In July 2014, when we first opened our doors, the sentiment surrounding bitcoin and blockchain technology was that of fear, anxiety, and skepticism. At the time, few in Washington, D.C. understood the key functions and benefits of blockchain. And it was clear that a strong and unified voice was required to move the industry forward.

The following are 10 top accomplishments since inception:

July 19, 2014: Launched the Chamber of Digital Commerce

The Chamber launched with 15 founding members, becoming the first and only trade association in Washington, DC solely focused on representing the blockchain technology ecosystem. The launch took place just two days after New York issued its controversial “BitLicense” proposal, solidifying the importance of having full-time, policy advocates working with government.

Hosted Congressional Blockchain Education Day

The Chamber has hosted two Congressional “fly-ins” to date where more than 70 Chamber members held meetings with over 100 Congressional offices to share the promise and realities of blockchain technology.

CoinDesk: Mr. Blockchain Goes to Washington

October 22, 2015: Launched the Blockchain Alliance

The Blockchain Alliance is a public-private forum to address public safety concerns about digital currencies and combat criminal activity on the blockchain. The Blockchain Alliance is credited for coordinating with more than 100 law enforcement agencies and training their agents about the blockchain. Many thanks to Chamber Advisory Board member Jason Weinstein for spearheading this initiative.

Reuters: Group formed to help with U.S. digital currency probes

March 3, 2016: Hosted the inaugural DC Blockchain Summit

The Chamber hosted the inaugural DC Blockchain Summit in conjunction with Georgetown University’s Center for Financial Markets and Policy. Since its inception, the Summit has continued to grow its attendance and influence as the industry’s premier policy event in Washington, DC every year for the past 4 years.

March 16, 2016: Testified before the U.S. Congress, resulting in the passage of House Resolution 835

The Chamber’s Chairman, Matthew Roszak, testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee in a hearing entitled “Disrupter Series: Digital Currency and Blockchain.” This hearing led to the passage of Res 836, establishing supportive language for blockchain technology in the Congressional Record.

“Whereas blockchain technology with the appropriate protections has the potential to fundamentally change the manner in which trust and security are established in online transactions through various potential applications in sectors including financial services, payments, health care, energy, property management, and intellectual property management….” : Now, therefore, be it Resolved,

June 3, 2016: Facilitated blockchain discussions with Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen

The Chamber helped organize blockchain training and education for more than 90 central bank heads at the Federal Reserve’s annual meeting with The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The event included an opportunity for Chamber members to hear private remarks from Chair Janet Yellen. Prior to this day, Chair Yellen had never spoken publicly about blockchain and we were the first to receive her thoughts!

Wall Street Journal: Blockchain Technology Gets a Hearing Inside the Fed’s Headquarters

July 7, 2016: Supported North Carolina in the passage of the nation’s first “blockchain-friendly” bill.

North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory’s signature on marked a historical moment for state regulation of blockchain technology. The bill’s passage was the result of 16+ months of deliberations between the North Carolina Commissioner of Banks, the General Assembly and the Chamber. The Act updates the state’s existing laws to include a defined “virtual currency” term, and clarifies which activity using virtual currency triggers licensure. The bill ensures virtual currency miners and blockchain software providers, including smart contracts platforms, colored coins, smart property, multi-signature software, and non-hosted, non-custodial wallets, will not require a license.

October 1-5, 2017: Led first-ever Certified Trade Mission Supporting Blockchain

The trade mission included a delegation of 15 Chamber members and was coordinated in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Commerce. Visiting key stakeholders in the United Arab Emirates, the mission was prompted in part by the “Dubai Blockchain Strategy,” a vision to make Dubai the first blockchain-powered government in the world by 2020.

Chamber leadership meets with Rashed Al Balooshi, CEO, Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange; the Honorable Barbara Leaf, US Ambassador to the UAE; Fatima Al Jaber, Board Member, Al Jaber Group

December 19, 2017: Launched The Foundation of the Chamber of Digital Commerce.

The Foundation is a non-profit charitable organization that sponsors and supports research and educational activities to promote the acceptance and use of digital assets and blockchain technologies.

July 31, 2018: Reached 200 Members!

The Chamber of Digital Commerce has proudly retained a 100 percent growth rate every year since inception. Today, we are the largest blockchain trade organization in the world!

Top Policy Priorities at the Chamber

July 11, 2018 by Chamber

Top 5 Policy Priorities at the Chamber

As the saying goes “blockchain never sleeps.” It’s the Chamber’s mission to promote the acceptance and use of digital assets and blockchain-based technologies. We do this tirelessly through education, advocacy, and working closely with policymakers, regulatory agencies and industry. Following are the top five priorities that keep the Chamber team up at night:

Recognition that blockchain will transform the way we record, track, and transfer anything of value. Just as the internet transformed the way we share information with each other, with millions of applications running on it to enable such activity, so will blockchain technology revolutionize the way we account for ownership, provenance, and transfers of value or property. Many other nations have realized this potential – including the United Kingdom, the European Union, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and central banks worldwide, to name just a few. These are significant financial centers – the United States is at risk of falling behind when it focuses solely on enforcement actions against wrongdoers without also supporting innovation that will benefit government, industry, and citizens. The U.S. government needs a senior official to recognize the importance of this innovation and create policies to enable it to flourish, including incorporating the technology into government programs such as identity management (e.g., passports and visas), social programs (e.g., social security, welfare, and similar programs), and regulatory oversight (by acting as a “node” on a network) – to name a few.

Streamline Regulatory Oversight. The virtual currency industry and token trading platforms are subject to a patchwork of state-by-state regulation of money transmitters, that also include federal regulatory oversight through FinCEN and the CFTC, among others. This state-by-state approach currently does not even allow a company to obtain money transmitter licenses in every state – about a dozen states have not licensed any virtual currency business. The NY BitLicense, a law specific to virtual currency business activity, just reached a milestone of only eight licenses granted, three years after the law was in the books. This framework creates significant legal expense and impediments to operations to seek approval in 49 states plus several territories, while still being subject to federal laws. The industry needs one solution to oversee this industry, not dozens.

Tokens: Tokens offer an incredible expansion of the way we think of assets by digitizing those assets and offering ways to transfer them in a secure and efficient way. Token sales, also referred to as “Initial Coin Offerings” (ICOs), can raise capital for new companies, or other prospective users a means of participating on a platform. In 2018 alone, there have been more than 270 token sales raising more than $5.7 billion. The Chamber supports policies that protect purchasers and facilitate appropriate disclosures, while promoting innovation through token issuances.

Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Finance: Like any industry and any currency, virtual currency and blockchain technology can be used for incredibly important purposes. However, in some cases, they’re used to engage in unlawful activity. The Chamber believes in modernizing U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) laws while allowing the agencies responsible for enforcement the flexibility to address risks as and when they arise. We also co-founded the Blockchain Alliance to facilitate a dialogue with and serve as a collaborative resource among law enforcement and the blockchain industry.

Smart Contracts: Blockchain-based computer codes can simplify the way we conduct business, pay bills, and ratify contracts, for example. We at the Chamber are working to promote the use of smart contracts in educating legislators that existing U.S. law – the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (“ESIGN Act”) and the Uniform Electronic Transaction Act (“UETA”) — already provide sufficient legal basis for smart contracts executing terms of a legal contract. Efforts by states to amend their state UETA laws will not only introduce another confusing patchwork of laws addressing this technology, but risk legal action through the preemptive force of the ESIGN Act.

Tax: From paying a simple bill, purchasing a flight or consumer goods, virtual currencies are becoming more commonly used. In 2014, however, the IRS decided it would treat convertible virtual currency as property. That means that every simple transaction (such as buying a cup of coffee) is not only subject to sales tax, but also the calculation of capital gain/loss and investment income tax (with cumbersome reporting requirements included!). This treatment hinders the use of virtual currencies as a method of payment, which in turn, prevents their ability to reach a wide spectrum of potential participants in the financial system. The Chamber supports policies that treat virtual currencies fairly – as an alternative currency rather than as property subject to capital gain or investment income tax.

Accounting: Businesses that recognize the potential of blockchain technology cannot hold these assets and record it on their books without sorting out the appropriate accounting treatment. Currently, no accounting standards exist to guide a business on the appropriate treatment of these assets – leaving businesses and their accountants to guess at a reasonable method and issue qualified opinions. Such opinions can impact a company’s ability to obtain funding or loans, among others. The Chamber believes that the Federal Accounting Standards Board (FASB) should address the accounting standards for digital currencies.

Crypto For Congress Op-Ed

January 1, 1970 by Chamber

Why Every Member of Congress Just Received Bitcoin

Op-Ed by Perianne Boring, Founder & President, Chamber of Digital Commerce

Learning by doing is the most effective way to learn something new, especially when it comes to technology. Our brains respond and adapt through experiential learning. Think of the first time you sent an instant message, made your first call on a mobile phone, downloaded your first app on a smart phone, or set up your first social media account. Receiving your first cryptocurrency is a teachable moment.

Many Americans have already experienced their first digital currency transaction and are rapidly embracing the technology. According to a study by Coin Metrics, 15% of all American adults – and 27% of Millennials – own some form of cryptocurrency. In addition, more than 33%. of small and medium-size businesses in America are now accepting cryptocurrencies as payment for goods and services.

Since Bitcoin’s inception in 2009, the idea and promise of blockchain technology has seized the imagination of engineers, scientists and technologists around the world. These nascent and evolving innovations offer immense possibilities for business, government, and consumers. The United States has a unique opportunity to catalyze rapid economic growth, while fostering and encouraging innovation towards a new digital economy for the whole world to use.

Elected officials alike must understand that the United States’ technical preeminence is at risk if we fail to acknowledge the role blockchain technology will play in the global economy for many generations to come, similar to the Internet. Technology providers estimate that 10 percent of global GDP will likely be stored on blockchain technology by 2025 to 2027.

Education is the first step we must take to bring policymakers together to gain widespread support for a successful path forward for digital assets and ensure the benefits of blockchain technology are realized in the United States. The Chamber of Digital Commerce exists in part to offer education and hands-on learning to Members of Congress that will empower them to receive and send cryptocurrencies and use blockchain technology.

While cryptocurrency is another way to pay for something digitally, there is much, much more going on beneath the surface. Blockchain technology, the technology underpinning cryptocurrencies, doesn’t just keep track of financial transactions, it can also serve as a timestamping method akin to a digital notary, enabling new forms of corporate and social organization, and improving the way we transact digitally.

Additionally, blockchain’s open, public ledger technology enables transactions to be traceable for law enforcement purposes and has been successful in protecting financial systems and the public from bad actors.

Today, many small and medium-sized businesses accept cryptocurrency as payment for goods and services. It’s time for Congressional campaigns to do the same.

One of the biggest challenges campaigns face is fundraising. Most Members of Congress spend hours a day on fundraising efforts alone, oftentimes asking the same pool of long-time supporters for ever more money. It’s a necessary, but time-consuming distraction from governing, with an imperfect and unpredictable return on investment.

Just think of the ‘first-to-market’ benefit past candidates had who embraced websites, email, and social media. These forward-thinkers gained a strategic advantage because of their ability to understand and leverage the new technology before their competitors.

The United States has one of the lowest rates of youth voter turnout in the world. If politicians want to appeal to younger voters, they need to speak their language and reach them in ways that resonate. More than 89 million Millennials who hold some form of cryptocurrency today are passionate about this new system of money and are likely to support candidates who embrace its possibilities.

Just as campaigns use social media to target different demographics, campaigns rely on a variety of different payment methods to solicit donations from different communities. Imagine if campaigns told direct mail donors that they could give only by credit card, or donors over the phone they had to go to a website. If you don’t let donors give and engage how they want to, they won’t.

Every day, cryptocurrency takes another step toward mainstream use. Investors are allocating more of their portfolios to it, entrepreneurs are pivoting their businesses towards it, and, perhaps most importantly, young people are drawn to it. Embracing cryptocurrency signals to those who believe in it that Members of Congress are in tune with the latest, cutting-edge technology.

Perhaps most importantly, for the U.S. to maintain its global leadership, we must remain at the forefront of advanced technologies. Blockchain might soon be considered ‘critical infrastructure’ within the new digital economy. China and the E.U. understand this and are already well ahead of the curve. Separately, each has publicly declared they want to be the global leader of developing blockchain technology and have strategic national initiatives underway. This would be a significant challenge to both our national security and economic security to have foreign actors controlling the systems and governance that will power the digital economy.

Accepting cryptocurrency campaign contributions is one small yet impactful way Members of Congress can demonstrate their commitment to helping the U.S. maintain its technological leadership.

We at the Chamber are ready to help all Members who are ready to learn about blockchain technology and better understand its enormous potential for innovation and economic growth.

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Perianne Boring is the Founder and President of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, the largest trade association dedicated to supporting the blockchain industry and educating policymakers on how the technology works while addressing regulatory concerns.