US lawmakers finally dealing with crypto: New draft bill to bring regulatory clarity

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Updated on Mar 11, 2020

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US Congressman Paul Gosar recently introduced a draft bill that would finally bring some regulatory clarity to the crypto space in the US.
While his bill does not regulate cryptos directly, it proposes which party should be in charge of regulating different aspects of the crypto sector.
The bill also defined three different categories of crypto, including 'crypto-currency,' 'crypto-derivatives,' and 'crypto-securities.'

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The US has been well known to take on any opportunity that would allow it to take the lead in nearly any industry. However, the country has been noticeably unwilling to take on cryptocurrencies, and even now, digital currencies remain mostly unregulated.

This might change in the near future, however, as the US Congressman Paul Gosar of Arizona recently introduced a draft bill to tackle this very issue. More precisely, his draft bill is expected to bring regulatory clarity in the crypto sector by deciding which of the federal agencies should get the chance to regulate cryptos.

The bill is named the ‘Crypto-Currency Act of 2020.’ and it divides cryptos into three categories. Those include crypto commodities, cryptocurrencies, and crypto securities. Further, the draft proposes that each of the categories should have its own federal crypto regulator, whose job would be to notify people of necessary registrations or required licenses.

Who should be the regulators?

So far, the party proposed for regulating crypto commodities is CFTC, while the SEC would be in charge of crypto securities. As for cryptocurrencies themselves, the party proposed to regulate them is FinCEN.

The bill did not stop there, either. It also defined all three types of cryptos. Cryptocurrencies were defined as the representation of US currency, or rather ‘synthetic derivatives resting on a blockchain.’ Commodities were defined as economic goods or services, while securities are debt, equity, or derivative instruments based on blockchain technology.

The bill further says that the Secretary of the Treasury should act through FinCEN in order to issue rules that will obligate each cryptocurrency with allowing their transactions to be traced. Meanwhile, entities engaging in crypto transactions should also be known and traceable, similarly to how traditional financial institutions require their own customers to be identified.

While the US still doesn’t have a standing regulatory framework, attempts to regulate digital currencies were made before. However, each time, regulators stated that the crypto industry has to comply with laws issued for banks and financial services.