Gillibrand, Lummis Plan Revamped Crypto Bill for April

The revised version is going to be more detailed when it comes to defining tokens, Sen. Gillibrand said

article-image

Ron Adar/Shutterstock.com modified by Blockworks

share

A revamped bipartisan effort to bring sweeping regulation to cryptocurrency is going to make the rounds on the Hill this spring, senators say. 

Sens. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., co-sponsored the Responsible Financial Innovation Act, first introduced to the Senate in June. A revised version of the proposed law will land on Senate desks in mid-April, Lummis said Thursday in Washington, DC.

The revised version is going to be more detailed when it comes to defining tokens, Gillibrand said, speaking alongside Lummis at the Milken Institute Future of Digital Assets Symposium. 

The new bill also has clarified some of the definitions regulators and industry members found troubling, Lummis said, not mentioning any specific examples of new language.

“We are trying to address some of the concerns we heard, we are going to try to build out some of the regulatory framework that we left for studies in the first version, and so it might also be more thorough than the first version,” Gillibrand added. 

The original bill focused on clarifying the roles of different regulatory bodies, increasing stablecoin oversight, and eliminating taxes on cryptocurrency transactions of less than $200.

As the industry has largely anticipated, senators are prioritizing stablecoins. The bill makes a point to place a universal ban on all algorithmic stablecoins. There are still details to be worked out around determining who can issue a stablecoin and what kinds of reserves would be required.

There are partisan hold-ups, though, the senators acknowledged. The Senate Banking Committee has not yet marked up the bill, Lummis added, a key step in advancing the policy. Historic crypto-skeptic Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, heads the committee, which held a hearing in February to discuss the fallout from FTX

Crypto investment vehicles are “speculative products run by reckless companies, we know that’s true,” Brown said during the hearing.  

“It would require, certainly, a change in approach for the Banking Committee to move forward with markup,” Lummis said.


Don’t miss the next big story – join our free daily newsletter.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Hilton Metropole | 225 Edgware Rd, London

MON - WED, MARCH 18 - 20, 2024

Crypto’s premier institutional conference returns to London in March 2024. The DAS: London Experience:  Attend expert-led panel discussions and fireside chats  Hear the latest developments regarding the crypto and digital asset regulatory environment directly from policymakers and experts   Grow your network […]

Salt Lake City, UT

WED - FRI, OCTOBER 9 - 11, 2024

Pack your bags, anon — we’re heading west! Join us in the beautiful Salt Lake City for the third installment of Permissionless. Come for the alpha, stay for the fresh air. Permissionless III promises unforgettable panels, killer networking opportunities, and mountains […]

recent research

Frax report cover.jpg

Research

Frax saw continued development in its frxETH liquid staking derivative and Fraxlend money market throughout 2023. Frax V3 introduces an RWA strategy to drive utility to the protocol's cornerstone product, the FRAX stablecoin.

article-image

MicroStrategy discloses the purchase of 16,000 bitcoin throughout November

article-image

Digital asset firms face potential new regulatory landscape under Treasury’s proposed authority expansion

article-image

Uniswap Labs will be providing trading APIs to Talos investors through Fireblocks

article-image

DYDX supply will climb by up to 80% after the Friday unlock, but a couple factors make a massive sell-off appear unlikely

article-image

Switzerland-based Pando Asset, which has crypto products trading on the SIX Swiss Exchange, now looks to the US

article-image

Binance does not hold the required licenses to advertise and serve customers in the Philippines, the country’s securities regulator said