Senators Stabenow and Boozman Introduce Crypto Bill That Expands CFTC's Regulatory Powers

The bill defines digital products and requires registration of digital product platforms by the CFTC, with language that must be tightened.

Debbie Stabenow, chair of the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee, and senior member John Boozman introduced the Digital Products Consumer Protection Bill on Wednesday. The invoice has been awaited for several months. Like the Digital Commodities Exchange Act (DCEA) introduced in the House of Representatives by members of the House Agriculture Committee in April, the new bill expands the role of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC ). The new bill is no companion to the DCEA, however.

According to the summary, the bill's definition of digital commodities "includes Bitcoin and Ether and excludes certain financial instruments, including securities", which are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The bill mandates CFTC registration of a wide range of market participants, such as "digital commodities broker", "digital commodities custodian", "digital commodities trader" and " digital commodities trading system", which are collectively understood as "digital commodities brokers". commodity platforms. Digital product platforms could be registered with the SEC under the bill.

In addition, the bill would require the registration of "persons associated with digital commodity brokers and digital commodity traders".

The bill has been widely endorsed within the crypto community, primarily on Twitter. Blockchain Association policy officer Jake Chervinsky called it “a good bill overall and confirms a growing consensus for CFTC regulation.” Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad said he was "really pleased to see the introduction" of the bill.

1) I can't wait to see @SenStabenow and @Jo...