U.S. Congressional Staff Learn About Digital Assets
On July 28th the Government Blockchain Association & Mortar Strategies hosted a Congressional Lunch & Learn with over 100 congressional staff to help educate them on digital assets and policy considerations. The program included:
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- ​Why the Clarity Act Matters – [Text explaining why] – Presented by Alex Konanykhin of TransparentBusiness.
- Why Digital Assets and Tokenization Matter to Government Now – What tokenization is, why it is gaining attention, and why it matters beyond cryptocurrency. – Presented by Kevin Jackson of the Institute for Digital Asset Innovation (IDIA)
- ​The Current Regulatory and Legislative Environment – A plain-language overview of major policy debates, including digital asset market structure, stablecoins, custody, compliance, investor protection, and legislation such as the CLARITY Act. – Presented by Lindsay Lawrence Videnieks of Mortar Strategies.
- ​How Blockchain Can Improve Accountability, Payments, and Public Trust – Blockchain can help reduce fraud, waste, and abuse; improve auditability; strengthen financial controls; and modernize public-sector transactions. – Presented by Paul Dowding of TapestryX.
- ​How Government Can Evaluate and Adopt Trusted Blockchain Solutions – What acquisition and policy leaders should ask vendors, why Layer 1 architecture matters, and how the Blockchain Maturity Model helps assess trustworthiness, governance, security, performance, and readiness. – Presented by Gerard Dache of the Government Blockchain Association (GBA).
- ​Closing: Additional Resources and Next Steps – participants will learn about the GBA fraud, waste, and abuse report, the Blockchain Maturity Model, the Web3 Solutions Directory, relevant working groups, and opportunities for continued education or pilot discussions. – Presented by Gerard Dache of the Government Blockchain Association (GBA).
Registered attendees included staff from the following congressional members and committees:
- Cory Booker (D) New Jersey
- Joni Ernst (R) Iowa
- Chuck Grassley (R) Iowa
- Amy Klobuchar (D) Minnesota
- Cynthia Lummis (R) Wyoming
- Peter Welch (D) Vermont
- Roger Wicker (R) Mississippi
- House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark(D)MA-05
- Gabe Amo (D) RI-01
- Troy Balderson (R) OH-12
- Brendan Boyle (D) PA-02
- Rob Bresnahan (R) PA-08
- Nikki Budzinski (D) IL-13
- Troy Carter (D) LA-02
- Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D) FL-20
- Mike Collins (R) GA-10
- Warren Davidson (R) OH-08
- Troy Downing (R) MT-02
- Dwight Evans (D) PA-03
- Gabe Evans (R) CO-08
- Scott Fitzgerald (R) WI-05
- Bill Foster (D) IL-11
- Carlos Gimenez (R) FL-28
- Vicente Gonzalez (D) TX-34
- Maggie Goodlander (D) NH-02
- Josh Gottheimer (D) NJ-05
- Paul Gosar (R) AZ-09
- Mike Haridopolos (R) FL-08
- Kevin Hern (R) OK-01
- Robin Kelly (D) IL-02
- Darin LaHood (R) IL-16
- Sam Liccardo (D) CA-16
- Ted Lieu (D) CA-36
- Stephen Lynch (D) MA-08
- Brian Mast (R) FL-21
- Dave Min (D) CA-47
- Nathaniel Moran (R) TX-01
- Frank Pallone Jr. (D) NJ-06
- Hal Rogers (R) KY-05
- Pat Ryan (D) NY-18
- Steve Scalise (R) LA-01
- David Schweikert (R) AZ-01
- Adam Smith (D) WA-09
- Darren Soto (D) FL-09
- Marc Veasey (D) TX-33
- Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R) At-large delegate
Other registered attendees include staff from:
- Joint Economic Committee
- House Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Europe
- House Committee on Ways and Means, Trade Subcommittee
- Senate Banking Committee
- Senate Judiciary Committee
- S. House of Representatives / House of Representatives
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