The major bipartisan crypto bill led by U.S. Senators Cynthia Lummis (Republican) and Kirsten Gillibrand (Democrat) will most likely be deferred to next year according to the duo. Senator Cynthia Lummis claimed that non-crypto-versed Senators will need some time to understand and digest the proposals.
The Senators said in Bloomberg’s Crypto Summit on July 19, that there is a slim chance that the complete bill would be pushed through the Senate this year.
The Responsible Financial Innovation Act was announced in the U.S. Senate on June 6 and intends to address the role of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) when it comes to crypto regulation, along with stablecoin regulation, banking, the tax treatment of digital assets and interagency management.
The pair noted that there may be specific areas of their bill that could make it through this year via other legislation., with Gillibrand highlighting that fellow Democrat Senator Debbie Stabenow and Republican ranking member John Boozman are occupied on a bill proposing the CFTC as the key regulator for crypto.
Lummis also noted that the part of their bill focused on the regulation of stablecoins issued by financial institutions could also be rolled into another bill from the banking committee and voted on this year.
The senators got a relatively positive response to the bill from both sides of the political spectrum.
“There seems to be some serious common ground forming, and just as Senator Lummis said, the two committees that have the most focused Senators on this topic are banking and agg [agriculture],” Gillibrand said, adding that there’s also been some focus from the finance committee as “Senator Wyden and his committee wrote a good part of the tax provisions in our bill.”
While the duo accepts that their comprehensive crypto bill will take time to get the proper attention before it gets voted on next year, Gillibrand highlighted those fellow Senators, regulators and lawmakers are beginning to realize the urgent need to at least get consumer protections in place:
“There’s additional interest now because they’ve seen that this is something important to do, that consumers are not being protected today, there’s no oversight or accountability, and there are no rules of the road.”
“So, there’s more urgency now, and also more of a sense that this is something we need to do,” she added.
Lummis also pointed to the $40 billion Terra ecosystem collapse in May, and the risky nature of algorithmic stablecoins which require further oversight.
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