A bipartisan crypto bill that was being led in the US by Senators Cynthia Lummis and Kristen Gillibrand will be deferred to 2023. The Senators, at Bloomberg’s Crypto Summit on July 19, said there is a slim chance that the bill would be pushed through the Senate this year.
Lummis believes the bill, in one piece, as a total bill is more likely to be deferred until next year. She said it’s big, it’s comprehensive, and it’s still very much new to many US Senators. The lawmaker pointed out that there’s a lot for them to digest. The bipartisan crypto bill – the Responsible Financial Innovation Act was introduced in the US Senate on June 6. It wants to address the role of the Commodity and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for crypto regulation. The bill also wants to look into stablecoin regulation, banking, the tax treatment of digital assets, and interagency coordination.
The two senators believe they may be specific areas of their bill that could make it through this year through other legislation. Gillibrand revealed that fellow Democrat Senator Debbie Stabenow and Republican John Boozman are working on a bill for the CFTC to be the key regulator for crypto. Lummis said part of the bill looks at the regulation of stablecoins issued by financial institutions – this could also be passed into another bill from the banking committee and voted on this year. The legislators have seen relatively positive responses to the bill from both sides of the political spectrum.
Gillibrand shared that some serious common ground is forming. She said fellow senators, regulators and lawmakers are realizing the urgent need to at least get consumer protections in place. And there’s additional interest because they know that this is something important to do.
