Draft Bill To Classify Crypto Assets Now In US Congress

Paul Gosar has introduced a draft bill which is aimed at bringing regulatory clarity to the cryptocurrency industry in the United States. This is according to a Forbes article published on December 19th. The Crypto-Currency Act of 2020 sets out which Federal agencies should regulate each type of crypto assets.

The draft bill defines three types of crypto asset; crypto commodities, crypto currencies, and crypto securities. This is according to a discussion draft of the proposed bill.

Crypto-commodities got defined as economic goods or services, stored on a blockchain, with fungibility and which the market treats with no regard as to who produced it.

Crypto-currencies are defined as representations of U.S. currency or synthetic derivatives resting on a blockchain. This covers reserve-backed stablecoins, and currencies determined by decentralized oracles or smart contracts.

On the other hand, Crypto-securities cover all debt, equity and derivative instruments on a blockchain, other than those which are operated and registered as complaint money services businesses.

Each type of crypto-asset would fall under the jurisdiction of a different regulatory body, to act as the ‘Federal Crypto Regulator’ or ‘Federal Digital Asset Regulator’ for that type.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) would be the agency in charge of crypto-commodities, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would cover crypto-securities.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) would regulate crypto-currencies.