Bipartisan Cryptocurrency Bill Takes Good Steps for American Innovation

Today, Senators Lummis and Gillibrand released their much anticipated bill on cryptocurrency regulation. CEI financial policy expert John Berlau praised aspects of the bill that aid the cause of innovation and inclusiveness.

Statement by John Berlau:

“The long-awaited bipartisan Responsible Financial Innovation Act, sponsored by Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY), is a thoughtful plan to move crypto innovation forward and help ordinary American entrepreneurs, investors, and consumers benefit from this innovation.

“The bill pares back the overreaching tax reporting provision of last year’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law by clarifying that ‘brokers’ are only those who handle ‘sales of digital assets at the direction of their customers’ and not miners or software engineers who have no interaction with crypto consumers. The bill also generally limits the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to cryptocurrencies that are actual securities that share properties with stocks and bonds, limiting the SEC’s current overreach in claiming jurisdiction over any token that may have investment value.

“My CEI colleagues and I will have more to say as we read through the bill, but to the degree the bill reduces regulatory uncertainty and fosters a sense of permissionless innovation, it will have many positive effects.”