Arizona Republican Introduces Draft Bill To Clarify Regulators For Crypto Assets

A bill seeking to clarify which Federal agencies regulate digital assets like cryptocurrencies has been introduced by Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, a Republican.

What Happened

The bill titled, “Crypto-Currency Act of 2020” as accessed by Forbes distinguishes between crypto-commodities, crypto-currencies, and crypto-securities. The three will be regulated by different agencies.

Crypto-currencies will come under the purview of the Secretary of the Treasury, who can act through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The Comptroller of the Currency will be the primary government agency with the authority to regulate cryptocurrencies.

Crypto-securities will be regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Crypto-securities include “synthetic stablecoins.”

Crypto-commodities will be regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and all exchanges dealing with crypto-commodities will have to register with the commission.

Will Stechschulte, the legislative assistant of Gosar remarked on the scope of the bill to crypto publication Cointelegraph, “The bill looks to provide not only clarity, but legitimacy to crypto assets in the United States.”

Why It Matters

The bill seeks to classify cryptocurrencies as crypto-commodities. The term crypto-currencies is reserved for “representations of United States currency or synthetic derivatives” only. 

There will be no single regulatory authority in charge of all crypto assets in the United States should this bill pass.

Europe already has a crypto regulation in place in the form of the Anti-money laundering directive five (AMLD5) which mandates extensive know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money-laundering measures.

What Else Is There

Gosar is currently self-quarantined due to the ongoing coronavirus epidemic and tweeted the introduction of the bill by saying, “We may be quarantined, but our work continues! In fact, I just introduced the Crypto-Currency Act of 2020, a bill that my team has worked hard on over the past several months.” The congressman said that he is feeling great and his staff and he remain “asymptomatic.”