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Update: You can watch the hearing live here.

The US House of Representatives is giving Bitcoin and cryptocurrency a big boost by labeling digital currencies “the future of money” ahead of a key hearing on Capitol Hill.

The hearing will begin on Wednesday, July 18th and is expected to be livestreamed starting at 2:00pm EST. Lawmakers in the powerful Financial Services committee will host the event, which is titled “The Future of Money: Digital Currency.”

Congress has not yet released a list of who will be included in the hearing.

Recent hearings on Capitol Hill have focused on privacy coins and money laundering, as reported by The Daily Hodl.

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In March, Congress released a joint economic report praising Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. The massive document dedicated an entire chapter to crypto, noting that blockchain looks like the new internet, and cryptocurrencies could outshine government fiat.

“Some critics of currencies controlled by government fiat welcome cryptocurrencies because their supply is preprogrammed and perceived as unchangeable. For example, only 21 million bitcoins will ever be issued and the last fraction of a bitcoin will be issued in approximately 2140. Additionally, the creator of Ethereum designed its mining reward to decline exponentially as more miners create blocks, and according to his calculations the supply will be just over 100 million ether…

Cryptocurrencies and ICOs create headlines, and the pace of financial innovation in the blockchain space amazes skeptics. Yet, with all the headlines focusing on the financial applications, people may miss the digital revolution now happening with other blockchain applications. Even worse, people could be frightened about new developments with the technology as they associate blockchains with the negative headlines. Blockchain technology offers a decentralized, secure, and efficient way to store almost any form of data across multiple platforms.”

Members of the House are also facing strict new rules designed to force them into disclosing their cryptocurrency investments to the public.

According to the House Ethics Committee, lawmakers, officers and employees will have to publicly reveal all cryptocurrency investments over $1,000.

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