Law professor calls for crypto mining regulation during US Senate hearing

[RSRS]

Tuesday’s crypto hearing before the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs also included a call for stricter regulations on cryptocurrency miners.

Addressing the committee, Professor Angela Walch claimed that miners held “meaningful power” over the way blockchain networks operate. According to Walch, miners can exploit their role of transaction ordering which could become a “major issue” for cryptocurrencies, as reported by Law360.

In stressing the point, Professor Walch likened the miner extractable value (MEV) paradigm where miners earn more profits from ordering transactions in a certain way as being akin to a “bribe.” As such, Walch called for “greater scrutiny” on the activities of miners given their role as “intermediaries” in the multi-billion-dollar crypto ecosystem.

Coin Center’s executive director Jerry Brito countered Walch’s characterization of crypto miners as intermediaries, instead likening their role to that of internet service providers. As such, Brito argued for miners to be treated like ISPs without the need for burdensome regulations like money transmission laws.

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