- Ted Cruz has emerged as a strong pro-crypto voice in the fight against the Infrastructure Bill
- Cruz has benefited from a surge in crypto-based income from mining firms locating to the state
- He has submitted legislation to that aims to remove all the “devastating” provisions
Ted Cruz has emerged from the debate over the damaging cryptocurrency element of the Infrastructure Bill, which was signed into law yesterday. The Texas senator has revealed himself to be surprisingly well versed in the crypto space while the debate over the legislation has been ongoing, perhaps because of the huge jump in Bitcoin mining activities in his state, and he has promised to fight for the rights of cryptocurrency miners and node operators as the U.S. Treasury debates how to implement the new laws.
The Lone Star State has quickly emerged as the main hub for the cryptocurrency industry, and that exciting industry is now in danger of being stifled and driven overseas by an overreaching provision in this newly-signed, reckless spending package. 1/3https://t.co/Qu1QR63uFp
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) November 16, 2021
Cruz Labels Infrastructure Bill a “Devastating Attack”
The cryptocurrency aspect of the Infrastructure Bill classed miners, node operators, and anyone involved in such a role as a broker, meaning that they are legally bound to report all transactions and the personal details with whoever they are transacting with. Naturally this is impossible and will only serve to drive operators out of the country.
Cruz, clearly fearful that his sudden influx of crypto business might dry up on the back of it, yesterday pledged to try and rein in the “overreaching provision in this newly-signed, reckless spending package”, adding that the Senate should have “held hearings to properly understand the consequences of legislating on this emerging industry before we risked the livelihoods and privacy of participating Americans”.
Legislation Filed to Reverse Changes
Cruz has also submitted legislation that aims to repeal all the anti-crypto areas of the bill, cautioning that the provision if enacted in its present state will “stifle innovation, endanger the privacy of many Americans and cryptocurrencies, and likely push key aspects of the industry overseas to countries like China”.
In fact the likelihood of crypto mining and development being driven to China, which has spent the past four years banning all elements of cryptocurrency over and over again, is slim to none, but such rhetoric will help to stir his base, so on this occasion we’ll let it slide.
