A new more detailed version of the U.S. Cryptocurrency Act has been officially presented by Paul Gosar.
The U.S. Cryptocurrency Act of 2020 has been introduced at the Congress. Sources say that Rep. Paul Gosar has presented the act alone. Co-sponsors usually do this together.
As per the Act, digital assets are of three kinds: crypto commodities, crypto securities and cryptocurrencies. The U.S. CFTC, the SEC and the Treasury’s FinCEN are the three agencies that will regulate them.
Tokens such as Bitcoin are considered to be crypto-commodities. Stablecoins are considered to be crypto-currencies. Sources say that crypto-securities are covered under this description: “all debt, equity, and derivative instruments that rest on a blockchain or decentralized cryptographic ledger.”
This means that if the token functions according to Howey’s test, it’s a security. The new act basically covers fungible tokens. Non-fungible tokens are however left out. It leaves some speculation on how non-fungible tokens can be regulated.
U.S. Cryptocurrency Act Was Under Work for a While
Sources say that the bill has been in the works for a bit. A December version was reportedly leaked. The new version is more detailed. Technical terms and concepts have been reportedly difficult for the congressmen to understand.
The great thing about the bill is that the “primary” assignment of regulation is clear. This does a better role than the absolutes currently in operation. It has implications for the crypto space. A lot of changes will occur regulatory-wise. Some agencies will also be legally empowered to fulfill their constitutional functions too.
Sources also say that the Congressman reportedly worked with industry insiders. Ben Goldey who is the Communications Director for the Congressman said:
“Since this is such a niche issue, we worked with stakeholders and outside groups/experts to get a good sense of the kind of clarity that the industry needed. We chose to gather stakeholder support before working toward cosponsors.”
One of those stakeholders is Bitcoin Investor, Eric Finman. Sources say that Finman had worked rather hard to get the legislation to this point. He also reportedly said that there are many drafts ahead. He said:
“That bill that leaked, we were experimenting with a couple of things, that was our second draft. We’re thirty-two versions away from that.”
Though there is a long journey ahead for the Act, this Act seems to be the most promising so far. Although it has its drawbacks, this act could be the one to “unite all acts”. Financial privacy is one of those concerns.
Related Acts Got Slowed
Other pieces of legislation had earlier been drafted but lost their momentum. The Token Taxonomy Act by Rep. Warren Davidson is one such example.
The crypto space in the U.S. had been topsy-turvy recently. The introduction of the Act will change a lot of things for the community. How this will occur is still unclear. We would just have to wait for 32 drafts later to find out.
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