1.Content of the bill
Don Beyer, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, put forward the "digital asset market structure and Investor Protection Act" (1) ". He said," over the years, digital asset holders have encountered ubiquitous fraud, theft and market manipulation, and Congress has ignored the calls of industry experts and federal regulators to create a comprehensive regulatory framework. Our law has not kept pace with the development of the times. There is an urgent need to carry out legislation to provide basic protection for digital asset holders and investors. This bill is a beginning. "
The 58 page bill is by far the most comprehensive bill on digital assets.The bill includes the following aspects:
From the legal definition, digital asset securities and digital assets are distinguished. Digital asset securities are under the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), while digital assets are under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC);
Require digital asset transfers not recorded on the public chain to be reported to the registered digital asset transaction repository within 24 hours, so as to minimize the possibility of fraud and improve transparency;
Clearly add digital assets and digital asset securities to the legal definition of "monetary instrument" in the current Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), so as to formalize the regulatory requirements of digital assets and digital asset securities to meet the recording and reporting requirements of anti-money laundering ;Make it clear that digital assets, digital asset securities and stable currency are not legal currencies of the United States, and stipulate that the issuance of stable currency requires the consent of the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States.Authorize the Federal Reserve to issue CBDC;
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) are required to clearly inform the public that investing in digital assets and digital asset securities cannot get the same protection as when you want to deposit or buy securities.
3．The introduction of the bill is still controversial
Don Beyer has rich experience in the financial field. At present, the United States Senate and the house of representatives have four joint committees, namely, the Joint Economic Committee, the joint printing Committee, the joint Tax Committee and the joint library committee. Don Beyer serves as the chairman of the Joint Economic Committee. In addition, during Obama's presidency, he served as the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and assisted the U.S. Department of justice in investigating tax evasion by rich Americans through Swiss banks.
Earlier, some members of Congress in the United States also made remarks on the need to strengthen the supervision of cryptocurrency. On Tuesday, Senator elezabeth Warren urged us treasury secretary Yellen: at present, cryptocurrency is about to or has penetrated into all fields of finance, and the financial stability Regulatory Commission (FSOC) should take timely actions on the supervision of cryptocurrency and target such assets, the longer there is no appropriate regulatory measures, the more serious the damage to the financial system in the future.
Don Beyer's bill needs to be discussed and voted in the Senate and the house of Representatives and signed by the president before it can become a formal bill, because even among members of Parliament, there are people who oppose the bill, such as Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis. According to Bloomberg, her opinion is that "this is a very complex area and is prone to mistakes. We need a real committee procedure to consider these issues, not secret drafting."
Cynthia Lummis is a bitcoin supporter. She holds about 5 BTCs. In a previous interview, she once advised Americans to buy bitcoins as pension savings.
Of course, Cynthis Lummis's statement attracted opposition. Dave Dodson, who competed with her for the position of Senator of Wyoming, published a column in the media "[Senator Lummis, sell your bitcoin] (3)". Dodson pointed out that as a senator who formulates many national financial and tax policies, holding bitcoin will form a huge conflict of interest. If Lummis holds Disney shares and publicly calls on people to buy Disney shares, it obviously violates the SEC act, but holding bitcoin and publicly calling on people to buy bitcoin is not illegal at present. This is why the industry needs more regulation.
[1]:https://beyer.house.gov/UploadedFiles/BEYER_028_xml.pdf
[2]:https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FSOC%20Crypto%20Letter%2007.26.2021.pdf
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