Senators Gillibrand and Lummis release long-awaited cryptocurrency bill

US Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) unveiled the full version of their long-awaited crypto regulation bill on Tuesday. 

The senators announced their introduction of the bill in a Medium post. The full text is available here

Last month, The Block obtained a draft version of the bill that offered key details about its scope and impact. The newer version features the same eight titles that appeared in earlier versions and which the Lummis team had been building out since at least December.

Three titles addressing "Responsible Consumer Protection," "Responsible Payments Innovation" and "Responsible Interagency Cooperation" have grown considerably in the final bill, which also did away with an extension section on the creation of a self-regulatory organization. 

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A critical change seems to have been addressing concerns over which digital assets would fall under the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. 

As the announcement emphasizes, "Digital assets that meet the definition of a commodity, such as bitcoin or ether, which comprise more than half of digital asset market capitalization, will be regulated by the CFTC."

Lummis joined forces with Gillibrand in March when the two teased they were collaborating on the forthcoming bill. Lummis, a staunch conservative and ally of Donald Trump, faced an uphill battle getting Democratic support.

Update: 8:40 AM EST: This article has been updated to include differences in the newest version of the bill. 

About Authors

Kollen Post is a senior reporter at The Block, covering all things policy and geopolitics from Washington, DC. That includes legislation and regulation, securities law and money laundering, cyber warfare, corruption, CBDCs, and blockchain’s role in the developing world. He speaks Russian and Arabic. You can send him leads at [email protected].
Andrew Rummer is executive editor for The Block Pro, based in London. He was previously managing editor at Bloomberg News and led special projects at Finimize. He has a degree in engineering from the University of Oxford. Follow him on Twitter at @AJRummer.