Tag: Crypto legislation

Bringing clarity to cryptocurrency

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By Rep. French Hill and Rep. Dusty Johnson. (Washington Times). May 21, 2024.

As the FTX collapse demonstrated in 2022, issuing and trading digital assets—including cryptocurrencies—need clear rules of the road.

The regulatory gaps in the digital asset market must be filled by legislation, not by independent agencies ruling by enforcement. If Congress does not take action, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler will continue to exercise broad authority over all digital assets.

That’s why we collaborated with House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and House Agriculture Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson (R-PA) to craft our Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21), which crafts a “fit for purpose” regulatory framework for digital assets that protects consumers and investors while keeping innovation in the United States.

This type of committee collaboration is unprecedented and may be the most substantial piece of digital asset legislation in Congress’s history. FIT21 directs the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), along with the bank supervisors, on how to classify cryptocurrencies and other digital assets as securities or commodities. 

Since our two committees passed FIT21 last summer, this bill has incorporated our members’ bipartisan priorities. We believe it fully responds to the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and the President’s Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets.

Read the whole piece here: Washington Times.

Wyoming Grants DAOs New Legal Structure

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By Jesse Hamilton. (CoinDesk). 3/8/24.

  • Wyoming has extended its legal framework for DAOs even further, setting up a new nonprofit status.
  • A16z says it’ll encourage the DAOs it’s associated with to establish themselves in that state.

Wyoming has established a new legal framework for in-state decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) nonprofits that has crypto investment giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) calling the state an “oasis.”

Gov. Mark Gordon signed a bill into state law that adds to Wyoming’s growing codes for DAOs, which were already cleared to establish themselves as limited-liability corporations there. Now DAOs can also secure themselves as unincorporated nonprofit associations.

Read more here: CoinDesk.

Drama in U.S. Congress over Speaker of the House leaves crypto legislation on pause

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By Sarah Wynn. (The Block). October 12, 2023.

The race between Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is tight, as House Republicans gather on Thursday to see if there could be enough votes for Scalise. 

Prospects for a more permanent U.S. House speaker are not looking up, which could kick cryptocurrency legislation further down the road.

The race between Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is tight, as House Republicans gather on Thursday to see if there could be enough votes for Scalise. 

“The general consensus from many folks that we’re talking to is that this does not seem like it’s going to get solved this week,” said Ron Hammond, director of government relations at the Blockchain Association. 

Read the full story from The Block here: “Drama in U.S. Congress over Speaker of the House leaves crypto legislation on pause.”

Crypto Needs Congress, But U.S. Lawmakers Have Opted for Pandemonium

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By Jesse Hamilton. (CoinDesk). October 9, 2023.

Without the U.S. Congress outlining a clear system of rules, the crypto industry fears it’ll be relegated as a volatile financial backwater. But Capitol Hill is beset by drama, including a U.S. House of Representatives that fired its speaker and a budget debate that could derail the federal government.

Two crypto bills are carrying a lot of the sector’s hopes, because they’ve made it further than any legislation to date: one House bill that would establish rules for digital assets markets and another that would set up regulations for issuing and trading stablecoins in the U.S. Until now, Crypto lobbyists thought that both pieces of legislation had a shot to reach the House floor in November.

The problems: Nov. 17 is the new deadline for a government shutdown, unless Congress can agree to a spending plan it wasn’t able to execute last month. And one of the top voices in that negotiation is the speaker of the House. Republicans dumped the speaker, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), in an unprecedented fashion and are yet to pick a new one.

Read the full piece from CoinDesk here: “Crypto Needs Congress, But U.S. Lawmakers Have Opted for Pandemonium.”

Regulators Increase Their Power Over Crypto But With Little To Show For It

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By Ike Brannon. October 26, 2022. (Forbes).

Federal regulators are notorious for bogging down industries and stifling economic growth with myriad regulations, which is why most industries are loath to ask Congress to enact more regulations. Yet, that’s precisely what cryptocurrency companies and investors alike are asking for.

The fact that Congress has yet to consider any crypto-specific legislation has left regulators to their own devices, to which they have responded by adopting a strategy of regulation through enforcement: Instead of prescribing what is and is not possible in this space they merely react to the actions of market participants and then determine whether what they did is, in fact, allowable.

While such ex post regulations are easier for regulators, it leaves us with a market in which those that innovate in this market risk being subject to retroactive punishment and ruinous lawsuits.

Read the full article here.