An US lawmaker has introduced a new draft bill called ‘Crypto-Currency Act of 2020’ to provide more regulatory clarity around digital assets including cryptocurrencies.
US Congressman Paul Gosar introduced the bill in the House of Representatives. The bill seeks to clarify which Federal agencies should regulate digital assets, to require those agencies to notify the public of any Federal licences, certifications, or registrations required to create or trade in such assets, and for other purposes.
The bill cited as ‘Crypto-Currency Act of 2020’ categorizes digital or crypto assets into three: crypto commodities, cryptocurrencies, and crypto-securities.
According to the bill, the definition of crypto commodities is economic goods or services that are fully fungible, “the markets treat with no regard as to who produced the goods or services,” and rests on a “blockchain or decentralized cryptographic ledger.”
The draft bill defines cryptocurrencies as representations of US currency or synthetic derivatives that are determined by decentralized oracles or smart contracts, and also collateralized by crypto commodities, other cryptocurrencies or crypto securities, resting on a blockchain platform.
Crypto-security, on the other hand, means “all debt, equity, and derivative instruments that rest on a blockchain.”
The bill classifies stablecoins into two categories: reserve-backed stablecoins and synthetic stablecoins. Reserved-backed stablecoin are those issued by the United State or any other foreign government backed on one-to-one basis. Synthetic stablecoins means digital asset backed by the value of a currency or other digital asset.
The bill proposes the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CTFC) as regulator to crypto commodities, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to crypto-securities and synthetic stablecoins, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to cryptocurrencies other than synthetic stablecoins.
All three regulators are defined as the new digital asset regulators in the Federal government. The bill further says:
“Each Federal digital asset regulator shall, with respect to digital assets regulated by the Federal digital asset regulator, make available to the public (and keep current) a list of all Federal licenses, certifications, or registrations required to create or trade in digital assets.”
In October, CTFC, SEC, and FinCEN, in a joint statement, said that the crypto industry must comply with various banking and financial services laws in the US.
A solid regulatory framework around digital currencies has long been the need of crypto world. It remains to be seen whether this bill bills move ahead in the new year to provide much-awaited regulatory clarity.
