Lummis-Gillibrand Crypto Bill Moved to Next Year

The comprehensive bipartisan crypto bill in the making by U.S. Senators Cynthia Lummis (Republican) and Kirsten Gillibrand (Democrat) looks to pushed to next year.

The bill’s main considerations are clarity on the roles of the two key U.S. market regulators as well as to liberate crypto miners from being marked as broker-dealers relieving them from unfair taxations.

Appearing at the Bloomberg’s Crypto Summit on July 19, the Senators said that there still remains a small possibility that their bill will make it through the Senate this year. Lummis said:

“I think both Kirsten and I believe that the bill, in one piece, as a total bill is more likely to be deferred until next year. It’s a big topic, it’s comprehensive, and it’s still new to many U.S. Senators and so it’s a lot for them to digest in the few remaining weeks we have in this calendar year.”

Alternative Legislation

Nevertheless, specific areas of their crypto bill that could come through this year as part of other legislation. For example, as Gillibrand highlighted, the bill that Democrat Senator Debbie Stabenow and Republican ranking member John Boozman are drafting, suggesting for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to become a key regulator of the crypto industry.

In addition, the regulation of stablecoins issued by financial institutions, Lummis noted, could also molded into another bill from the banking committee and come to a vote before the end of the year.

Anticipating the reception of their own bill, the senators have said to experienced positive feedback from both sides of the political spectrum. Senator Gillibrand said:

“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].”

Clock is Ticking for the Crypto Bill

The Senators stressed that their fellow lawmakers and representatives are starting to understand the importance of the right legislation in place, hence the urgency to come up with proper consumer protection measures.

Gillibrand said:

“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’s no rules of the road.”

She added:

“So there’s more urgency now, and also more of a sense that this is something we need to do.”