WASHINGTON—United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Banking and Foreign Relations Committees, today joined The Big Money Show on Fox Business to discuss the Security and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) lawsuits against Coinbase, its attempts to overregulate digital assets, and reports that Cuba has agreed to host a Chinese Spy Base.
Partial Transcript
Hagerty on the SEC’s lawsuits against Coinbase: “[Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong] absolutely should be pushing back. You know, this is reminiscent of what happened to Matt Taibbi when the [Internal Revenue Service] visited his home the day he was coming to testify. You know, the day that Coinbase is coming to testify before the House [Agriculture] Committee, this [lawsuit] is dropped. I think it’s definitely an effort to intimidate. It’s [SEC Chair] Gary Gensler’s effort to try to get ahead of this—to construct everything as if it’s a security so the SEC can take control—but this is very damaging to the marketplace. Look, we have great innovators in America, and what seems clear to me is that financial regulators in America are trying to push this sort of digital innovation offshore to other countries, leaving us way behind.”
Hagerty on the SEC’s attempts to kill the digital asset industry: “You know, they prefer the Central Bank digital currencies basically saying there’s no need for other digital currencies that we’re talking about. They’re coming in [and] they’re calling securities just so they can come and charge Coinbase in arrears. You think about the hypocrisy here: Just over two years ago, the SEC approved Coinbase’s IPO. Coinbase explained their business model. They explained their staking program. The SEC approved all of that. Now they’re turning around and saying, ‘This is illegal activity.’ Again, I think there’s an ulterior motive here, and I think you just articulated it.”
Hagerty on the reported establishment of a Chinese Spy Facility in Cuba: “The [Biden] Administration needs to wake up. There are calls in this Administration to reach out with open arms to Cuba, to embrace them. Look, Cuba’s not our friend if they’re doing a deal like this with China. China has demonstrated its intent time and time again. This agreement with Cuba [is] just another chapter in this in terms of wanting to spy on us. But if you think about it, you know, the Chinese police stations that were found in New York and other cities across America, the spy balloon that floated over our nation, and we have an Administration that won’t release the FBI report. Again, this Administration is standing from a position of weakness. They’re adopting a posture of photo-op diplomacy where they don’t want to offend the Chinese, so they can have some sort of high-level meeting and photo-op rather than disclosing China’s malevolent behavior and standing up strong. The Trump White House demonstrated that strength is what China appreciates. We need to be standing up to the [Chinese Communist Party] at every turn.”
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