Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Chair of the Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion, Congressman Al Green (D-TX), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Congressman Bill Foster (D-IL), Chairman of the Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and Congressman Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Chairman of the Task Force on Financial Technology sent a letter to the nation’s 20 largest crypto, Web3, and digital assets companies, as well as prominent venture capital firms with investments in crypto, urging them to provide data around their diversity and inclusion practices.
“The Committee on Financial Services in the United States House of Representatives (“Committee”) has made diversity and inclusion a core pillar of its efforts to ensure that the U.S. financial services system works for everyone…” wrote the lawmakers. “There is a concerning lack of publicly available data to effectively evaluate the diversity among America’s largest digital assets companies, and the investment companies with significant investments in these companies. We believe transparency is a critical, first step to achieving racial and gender equity. That is why your participation in this snapshot is imperative in our efforts to understand how and whether the industry is working toward a more equitable environment for everyone.”
Under the leadership of Chairwoman Waters, the House Financial Services Committee established the first Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion in the history of Congress. Congresswoman Beatty serves as the Subcommittee Chair. In early 2020, the Committee published a report entitled, “Diversity and Inclusion: Holding America’s Biggest Banks Accountable,” and in late 2021, the Committee published a second report entitled, “Diversity and Inclusion: Holding America’s Largest Investment Firms Accountable.”
On June 7, 2022, Chairwoman Waters, Representative Green and Subcommittee Chairs sent a letter to the top U.S. banks and insurance companies to inquire about their involvement in the financing of chattel slavery in the U.S.
On June 30, 2022, the Committee held a virtual hearing entitled, “Combatting Tech Bro Culture: Understanding Obstacles to Investments in Diverse-Owned Fintechs.”
Click here for a sample letter.
See below for a full list of firms that received requests:
Aave
Andreessen Horowitz
Binance.US
Circle
Coinbase
Crypto.com
Digital Currency Group
FTX
Gemini
Haun Ventures
Kraken
OpenSea
PancakeSwap
Paradigm
Paxos
Ripple
Sequoia Capital
Stellar Development Foundation
Tether
UniSwap
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