US senators Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand took the stage at the DC Blockchain Summit on Tuesday to discuss the details of the much-anticipated bipartisan cryptocurrency bill that they say will be introduced next week.
They said the most comprehensive cryptocurrency bill is in preparation
Kirsten Gillibrand and Cynthia Lummis, who will speak at Consensus 2022 in June, have been working on bipartisan legislation for months and have stated that they plan to make it public in June. Speaking at the DC Blockchain Summit, Gillibrand stated that the “Responsible Financial Innovation Law”, which has been worked on for over a year, will be the first comprehensive cryptocurrency law. Some of Gillibrand’s remarks include:
Our bill contains some of the [same] provisions as some of the other House and Senate bills, but no other bill seeks to create a regulatory framework for the entire industry. Most other laws are petty, secret, and single-minded.
CFTC will have jurisdiction over most issues
Prominent clauses in the bill include provisions that protect miners from being treated as brokers. It also gives the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulatory authority over most of the market and clarifies that cryptocurrencies are not securities unless offered to fund a company such as an ICO.
“These cryptocurrencies will stay on the line”
In the continuation of his statements, Lummis said that these cryptocurrencies are “the most likely to survive” for Bitcoin and Ethereum, emphasizes:
It’s pretty obvious that Bitcoin is a commodity. We intend the CFTC to take over the reins of jurisdiction over Bitcoin and [Ethereum], they make up over 60% of the coexisting cryptocurrency markets and are the most likely to survive.
Gillibrand said this bill would have at least four jurisdictions
The bill is still being drafted, but Gillibrand said he expects to receive Senate votes “next year at the latest.” Gillibrand and Lummis would have to clear four different committees, of which only two were members.
Lummis says one advantage of working on crypto legislation is that it is inherently non-partisan, but notes that at the time of writing this bill, it is “very important that we get it right the first time.”
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