Whittier, California—On Thursday, Oct. 17, at 10 am, EFF Chief Program Officer Rainey Reitman will urge California lawmakers to prioritize consumer choice and privacy in developing cryptocurrency regulations.

Reitman will testify at a hearing convened by the California Assembly Committee on Banking and Finance. The session, Virtual Currency Businesses: The Market and Regulatory Issues, will explore the business, consumer, and regulatory issues in the cryptocurrency market. EFF supports regulators stepping in to hold accountable those engaging in fraud, theft, and other misleading cryptocurrency business practices. But EFF has been skeptical of many regulatory proposals that are vague; designed for only one type of technology; could dissuade future privacy-enhancing innovation; or that might entrench existing players to the detriment of upstart innovators.

Reitman will tell lawmakers that cryptocurrency regulations should protect consumers but not chill future technological innovations that will benefit them.

WHAT: Informational Hearing of the California Assembly Committee on Banking  and Finance

WHO: EFF Chief Program Officer Rainey Reitman

WHEN: Thursday, October 17, 10 am

WHERE: Rio Hondo Community College
               Campus Inn
               600 Workman Mill Rd.
               Whittier, California 90601

For more about blockchain:
https://www.eff.org/issues/blockchain

For more about EFF’s cryptocurrency activism:
https://www.eff.org/document/facebook-libra-and-blockchain
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/05/why-bill-banning-cryptocurrency-purchases-americans-terrible-idea