Tag: bipartisan

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Battle of the Bipartisan: Warren-Marshall Bill Challenges Hill’s Crypto Support

Warren-Marshall

Who says Washington is hopelessly divided along partisan lines?

Yesterday, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D, MA) and Roger Marshall (R, KS) co-sponsored a new bill requiring US Treasury’s FinCEN – Financial Crimes Enforcement Network – to further interwine the requirements of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know-Your-Customer (KYC) rules within digital assets.

See a copy of the Bill.

Titled “Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2022,” the legislation appears, in part, to build on actions taken by the U.S. Treasury with mixing service Tornado Cash back in August.

Industry advocate CoinCenter responded unequivocally to the bill’s introduction:

“[The bill] is the most direct attack on the personal freedom and privacy of cryptocurrency users and developers we’ve yet seen. It would force anyone who helps maintain public blockchain infrastructure, either through software development or validating transactions on the network, to register as a Financial Institution (FI).”

The bill would also likely inhibit the growth of the crypto sector due to additional costs associated with cumbersome financial institution compliance requirements.

Bipartisan

Senators Warren and Marshall’s partnership took a page from Capitol Hill’s bipartisan crypto supporters by reaching across the aisle in hopes of driving passage. RFIA, DCCPA, DCEA and many other crypto bills have bipartisan support including the stablecoin bill which is being developed in the House Financial Services Committee.

Marshall’s break is notable in that Republican libertarian views have appeared to mesh well with crypto which promotes self-custody and autonomy even as Republicans support the development of new regulatory guardrails.

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Congress Sees Opportunity for Crypto To Close The Wealth Gap

crypto and inclusion

What could the emergence of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology provide to underserved communities?

Increasing access to financial services.

Achieving “The American Dream.”

Closing the wealth gap.

These were the hopeful themes from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) recent roundtable on “Digital Assets and Financial Inclusion.” CFTC Commissioner Kristin Johnson led a wide-ranging discussion that included key Democratic staffers from the offices of Senator Debbie Stabenow (D, MI), Senator Cory Booker (D, NJ) and Rep. David Scott (D, GA), each of whom is involved in current blockchain legislation.

The 1-hour, 10-minute video of the event became publicly available late last week on YouTube along with a statement by Commissioner Johnson.

The roundtable itself was produced the Commission’s Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI),  a requirement of Dodd-Frank legislation signed into law by President Obama after the 2008 financial crisis which crushed many investors including those in minority communities. Beginning in 2010, OMWI offices were established across federal agencies including the US Treasury, SEC and CFTC in order to promote voices which may now be critical to the evolution of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency in the U.S. economy and government.

protecting the consumer

In most crypto regulatory discussions, consumer protections are a paramount concern and the roundtable was no different.

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The New ‘American Data Privacy and Protection Act’ and Blockchain Technology

American Data Privacy and Protection Act

To be clear – there is no mention of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency in the new American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA). But, with its introduction, it may raise the question for some of when/where privacy can be a part of the blockchain discussion.

A track of content at last Saturday’s crypto conference Consensus 2022 in Austin, Texas said it “all” with its title: “Can We Solve Privacy?”

Later in the day, Carole House, Director for Cybersecurity and Secure Digital Innovation for the White House National Security Council, told the audience she is hopeful that one day uniform KYC AML (Know-Your-Customer Anti-Money-Laundering) crypto rules can be applied globally for financial transactions – an application at the opposite end of privacy. Yet, she also indicated that consumer privacy is a conundrum that needs to be solved for today’s blockchain tech.

Similar to recent blockchain policy efforts such as the Responsible Financial Innovation Act in the Senate and the Digital Commodity Exchange Act in the House, creating a “a strong national framework” – and this time for a national government data privacy policy – is taking centerstage this week with hearings for the ADPPA.

The bill was released as a draft on June 3:
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