US Senator Pushes for Bipartisan Support on Crypto Regulation

US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is attempting to get both Democratic and Republican backing for a measure that will clarify cryptocurrency regulation. Senator Gillibrand spoke about her desire to have a key Senate committee evaluate her bipartisan cryptocurrency bill in an interview with Fortune.

The bill, which was introduced alongside Wyoming senator and Republican Cynthia Lummis last year, seeks to clarify the rules governing digital assets. However, after the FTX affair, the legislative process slowed down. The law was introduced in a revised form in July.

Senator Gillibrand concedes that Republicans in Congress are more supportive of cryptocurrencies than are Democrats, but she is still hopeful that this dynamic will change. She thinks that discussing openly their bill’s concepts would increase its bipartisanship and that bitcoin regulation shouldn’t be a political issue.

“I don’t think it has to be a partisan issue. I’m optimistic that through conversation, and through socialization of the ideas that are in our bill, it will become more bipartisan.”

The influential Senate Banking Committee now has a number of anti-crypto US Senators on it, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Chair Sherrod Brown (R-Ohio). Gillibrand stated that she is actively working with Chair Brown to find a solution that would allow the committee to hear her bipartisan measure, the Responsible Financial Innovation Act of 2023, in the spring of the following year.

One of the main features of the bill is to categorically classify the majority of digital assets as commodities and give the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) control over them. With an ever-changing and complicated regulatory environment, this action strives to increase regulatory uniformity and clarity in the cryptocurrency field.

The cryptocurrency sector, which understands that legal certainty is essential for its long-term growth and stability, closely monitors these events as Senator Gillibrand seeks to win bipartisan support for the measure.