Exclusive — Rep. Patrick McHenry: Republicans Have to Stop 'Nefarious' Efforts of Biden Admin, Progressives' Assault on Bitcoin

House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Patrick McHenry (R-NC) told Breitbart News exclusively that Republicans need to stop President Joe Biden and progressives’ “nefarious” assault on bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

McHenry spoke to Breitbart News after a House Republican roundtable on the soaring inflation and dismal economy one year into Biden’s administration.

Many Americans have increasingly looked to digital assets such as Bitcoin as an inflation hedge. Now, in 2021, the CPI has increased seven percent, which is the highest jump in decades.

However, President Joe Biden’s administration and progressives have attacked digital currencies as Americans look to save their save their money as inflation has yet to subside.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen pushed for a $30 billion tax on the bitcoin industry in the $1.2 trillion so-called bipartisan infrastructure bill that would significantly ramp up reporting requirements for the digital asset industry. The legislation also contains a provision that could sentence Americans to up to five years in jail for failing to report receipt of cryptocurrency assets.

McHenry said that first Republicans have to right the problems that came from the so-called bipartisan infrastructure bill.

“We have to stop the nefarious efforts of this administration and those in the progressive left trying to stop digital assets, cryptocurrencies and, and blockchain technology,” McHenry said.

McHenry, alongside Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) introduced the Keep Innovation in America Act, a bipartisan bill that would fix the digital asset reporting requirements in the bipartisan infrastructure bill, otherwise known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The legislation would clarify the definition of “broker” so that non-brokers in the digital currency industry such as miners, validators, hardware and software developers, and protocol developers do not have to comply with onerous requirements

Cryptocurrency industry groups such as the Blockchain Association, the Coin Center, and the Chamber of Digital Commerce praised the legislation.

The legislation has a long list of cosponsors across the political spectrum, including:

• Kevin Brady (R-TX)
• Ro Khanna (D-CA)
• Tom Emmer (R-MN)
• Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
• Warren Davidson (R-OH)
• Darren Soto (D-FL)
• Anthony Gonzales (R-OH)
• Ted Budd (R-NC)
• Mike Bost (R-IL)
• David Schweikert (R-AZ)
• Byron Donalds (R-FL)
• Jake Auchincloss (D-MA)
• French Hill (R-AR)

The North Carolina congressman said, “We have to have a whole we have to have a holistic look at this. In the next year, though, if we can stop bad policy from happening, right would be the biggest win for freedom and the biggest win for web 3.0.”

GRIID, an American bitcoin mining company, recently struck a deal with Intel to become the first recipient of its cryptocurrency mining chips. The chips would make mining more energy efficient. GRIID has three U.S.-based. mining facilities.

Given that China has banned and Russia has proposed banning mining of bitcoin, American companies can create jobs that could lead to dominance in the cryptocurrency industries.

McHenry said that America can offer “competitive” energy prices to mine bitcoin and other digital currencies, and states can offer incentives to bring mining companies to their localities.

The North Carolina conservative emphasized that its remains critical that digital currency intellectual property and manufacturing.

“We have to have our technologies, the intellectual property developed here, and manufactured here. It’s a national security imperative.”

Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.

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