WASHINGTON — A week after prominent technologists publicly slammed crypto for being too risky and unproven in a letter to Congress, human rights advocates from around the world have sent a rebuttal to U.S. lawmakers defending digital assets for the access they provide to people in countries where “local currencies are collapsing, broken, or cut off from the outside world.”
Some 21 human rights supporters from 20 different countries said in the letter that they’ve relied on bitcoin and stablecoins, which allow the trading in and out of crypto without going through a bank, “as have tens of millions of others living under authoritarian regimes or unstable economies.”
The lobbying of U.S. legislators comes as Congress considers laws that would regulate digital assets, which have been particularly volatile this year. Sens. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo, and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, introduced legislation on Tuesday to create a regulatory framework for the crypto markets. Because U.S. lawmakers effectively set policy and standards for the world, a draconian response in Washington, D.C., could have major repercussions across the globe.
