Cynthia Lummis Is Drafting a New Crypto Bill

Republican senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming has put together a new crypto bill with Kirsten Gillibrand, a former democratic candidate for president in the 2019 primaries.

Cynthia Lummis Is Pushing for Crypto Regulation

The bill is not aimed so much at crypto itself, but rather how members of Congress can write crypto bills in the coming future now that the space is becoming so big and so popular. Miles Jennings – crypto general council and head of decentralization at Andreessen Horowitz – explained in an interview:

This is the starting point for discussions about what the law should look like. I think that is one of the reasons we’re excited about it.

Both Lummis and Gillibrand have been allegedly flooded with calls from industry experts and traders alike who have provided advice on what should be included. Lummis – who has owned bitcoin since the year 2013 – mentioned during the Miami Bitcoin Conference this year:

It’s hard to pay attention to things that are abstract, and, for most members of Congress, this has been abstract for a long time. That has changed dramatically in the last 12 months, and part of that’s thanks to you all.

Gillibrand also threw her two cents in, pointing her finger at New York in the sense that it cannot seem to make up its mind about what it wants to do with crypto. On the one hand, you have people like New York City mayor Eric Adams pushing for crypto adoption with every fiber of his being. At the same time, the state Senate has recently announced that it is imposing a moratorium on crypto mining.

Gillibrand said:

New York is the center of world financial markets. This is one of the greatest growing industries that New York wants to have a part of.

Ty Gellasch – a former official with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – stated:

The challenge with creating any legislation on digital assets is most if not everything is covered by existing law. The question then becomes, ‘What are you trying to get by drafting this new legislation?’ The industry effort doesn’t seem focused on getting clarity, but rather getting loopholes.

The bill is slated to cover all kinds of new arenas including cybersecurity, banking regulations, and new rules for trading and crypto service providers. Michell Bond – the CEO of ADAM – said:

[Lummis and Gillibrand] want to make sure that they are getting things right from an industry standpoint and from a consumer protection standpoint. I just don’t know where this will ultimately shake out.

Who’s Happy and Who’s Not?

Lewis Cohen – a crypto attorney that advised Lummis on the bill – stated:

Reflexively treating all tokens as securities, I really do believe it’s both wrong legally and fundamentally bad policy for the U.S., but just ignoring the SEC’s concerns is wrong legally and bad for the U.S.

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