Solomon Samuel 
Six members of Congress have requested that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Department of Justice investigate Prometheum, alleging that the company has connections to the Chinese Communist Party.
In a letter dated July 10, Alabama Senator Thomas Tuberville and five House members alleged that Prometheum co-CEO Aaron Kaplan may have provided fraudulent testimony at a June 13 hearing on regulatory clarity in the cryptocurrency space.
Legislators from the United States asserted that Prometheum had connections to investors with “ties to the Chinese Community Party” Shanghai Wanxiang Blockchain and HashKey Digital Asset Group.
According to Tuberville and the Representatives, Kaplan’s testimony before Congress indicated that Prometheum was developed independently of Wanxiang and HashKey, which allegedly contradicted the company’s SEC filings.
The legislators requested that SEC chairman Gary Gensler and attorney general Merrick Garland investigate the situation. Numerous Republican lawmakers, including the six signatories to the July 10 letter, have frequently cited concerns regarding China-based entities or the country’s government when contemplating regulation or laws on digital assets.
Former Senator Pat Toomey and Representative Tom Emmer have issued warnings regarding the use of the Chinese digital yuan at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
Nonetheless, in an opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal on June 23, Aaron and co-CEO Benjamin Kaplan argued that Tuberville’s concerns regarding Prometheum’s alleged connections to China were “without merit” and based on “outdated information.”
“On October 21, 2021, we officially ceased all co-development work and strategic relationships with Wanxiang and its affiliates,” said the Kaplans.
“Prometheum severed all intellectual property and technological ties with Wanxiang, denying it and its affiliates access to any information that could put the United States or its citizens at risk.”
The co-CEO of Prometheum stated that the company departed the crypto advocacy group Chamber of Digital Commerce in early 2023.