- Senator Cynthia Lummis, known as the “Bitcoin senator,” announced that they are taking action again to pass an updated version of the crypto regulation bill they supported together last year.
- Lummis described the proposed bill, which is a new version of last year’s Responsible Financial Innovation Act, as a way to meet both moments.
- Patrick McHenry, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and one of the main supporters of the bill, said he wants the final bill to be a bipartisan proposal.
Bitcoin supporter US Senator Cynthia Lummis announced that she has taken action with Senator Gillibrand for a new cryptocurrency bill.
US Senator Announces Cryptocurrency Bill
Two American senators are once again making efforts to prepare a bill to regulate the digital asset sector. Senator Cynthia Lummis, known as the “Bitcoin senator,” announced that they are taking action again to pass an updated version of the crypto regulation bill they supported together last year. The Republican from Wyoming said, “It is important to move forward when we see much more integration of digital assets in our economy.”
Lummis shared a table briefly describing some proposals in the bill she submitted with Gillibrand. The table included registration requirements for crypto exchanges and how legal regulations would be divided among different institutions. This new initiative coincides with a period when the sector faces both supportive and challenging factors.
On the regulatory side, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed lawsuits against the two largest crypto exchanges, Binance and Coinbase, in June. The classification of approximately ten tokens as securities in these lawsuits caused astonishment and raised concerns about the future of the cryptocurrency sector in the US.
However, there have also been some positive developments. On June 15, BlackRock filed an application for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the spot markets, and other companies such as Invesco, Valkyrie, and Ark Invest quickly followed suit. The excitement created by these applications has propelled Bitcoin to levels unseen since last year.
Lummis Takes Feedback into Account
Lummis described the proposed bill, which is a new version of last year’s Responsible Financial Innovation Act, as a way to meet both moments. In its previous version, it focused on addressing the most challenging issues related to cryptocurrencies, such as classifying tokens as securities or commodities and determining which regulator would be responsible for issuers – the SEC or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
After the previous version fell short of expectations, Lummis promised earlier this year to consider feedback from regulators and the industry in drafting a “simplified” version. Lummis reiterated her criticism of the SEC’s application-focused approach to cryptocurrencies but also noted that both Congress and the SEC share blame for failing to establish clear rules in this regard.
Lummis said that the views of the SEC would be taken into account in determining whether a token is a security or a commodity. She stated that a new authority, including officials from the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, would be established to address this issue.
The news of the updated version of the RFIA has been positively received in the crypto world.
The version of the bill in the House of Representatives is being led by two Republican-led committees and is still under development.
Patrick McHenry, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and one of the main supporters of the bill, said he wants the final bill to be a bipartisan proposal. While House Democrats have not completely rejected the bill, they have expressed concerns about certain provisions, believing that it would provide ease to malicious actors who should be punished and weaken the powers of the SEC.
