A hearing by the United States House Committee on Financial Services that was solely focused on cryptocurrency was the biggest regulatory news of week. Even the event’s title — “Digital Assets and the Future of Finance: Understanding the Challenges and Benefits of Financial Innovation in the United States” — conveyed a different vibe than countless previous Congressional meetings that had been first and foremost about investor protection or security risks or threats to financial stability.

According to industry professionals and experts, this exchange was a huge net positive. Legislators asked intelligent questions and acted like they were trying to get an understanding of the new technology rather than acting on preconceived notions. Of course, there were tired questions about Bitcoin’s environmental footprint and Representative Brad Sherman’s anti-crypto rants, but the entire thing finally looked a lot like a constructive dialogue between the digital asset industry and lawmakers that we’ve been longing to see for a while.

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