#CryptoRoundTableRemarks Blockchain, of course, is a very creative and potentially revolutionary innovation that leads us to reconsider the evidence of ownership and the transfer of intellectual and economic property rights. They are shared databases that allow for the ownership of a type of digital property known as crypto assets without relying on an intermediary or central entity. Instead, these peer-to-peer networks incorporate an economic mechanism that incentivizes participants to validate and maintain the database according to the rules of the network. These are free market systems where users pay fees based on demand to network participants to have their transactions included in a so-called "block" of data with finite storage capacity.

The previous administration of the U.S. government discouraged Americans from participating in these market systems, asserting through lawsuits, speeches, regulations, and threats of regulatory action that participants and staking service providers could engage in securities transactions.

I thank the staff of the Division of Corporate Finance for clarifying their opinion that voluntary participation in a proof-of-work or proof-of-stake network as a "miner," "validator," or provider of "staking as a service" is not within the scope of federal securities laws.

While I am pleased to have taken that step, this is not a duly promulgated rule with the force of law, so we cannot stop there. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) must adopt regulation based on the authority granted to us by Congress.