Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., announced she and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., are reintroducing their bipartisan Responsible Financial Innovation Act.
Their legislation aims to establish comprehensive regulatory guidelines for the digital asset industry, according to a July 12 Twitter post.
"The crypto asset industry is here to stay," Lummis wrote in her post on Twitter. "Today, @SenGillibrand and I are reintroducing landmark legislation to create a federal regulatory framework that allows crypto businesses and investors to prosper here in America while protecting consumers from bad actors."
Lummis said the bill will "fully regulate crypto asset exchanges" by requiring them to register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), her Twitter post said. In order to protect consumers, the legislation includes "strong custody and lending limits." The bill would create "an interagency law enforcement working group" in order to fight against the use of crypto for criminal activity.
"Crypto assets will be a part of the future of finance, and America must continue to lead the global financial system," the Twitter post said.
Lummis and Gillibrand originally introduced the bill last year with the goal of establishing regulatory guidelines for the crypto industry. Speaking to attendees of the Consensus conference at the end of April, Lummis said they were working on a revised version of the legislation, CoinDesk reported.
"We are probably going to have a stronger section on national security. You will see a stronger cybercrime aspect to our bill," Lummis said, according to CoinDesk.
Leo Schwartz, a crypto analyst for Fortune, wrote in his Proof of State newsletter that the enhanced anti-crime provisions of the bill show a desire to "win over crypto skeptics" like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. He called the bill "ambitious" due to its length and comprehensive nature and noted the legislation is "bipartisan, unlike the House bills" currently under consideration.
"Many elements will make the crypto crowd happy," Schwartz said in his newsletter, like the fact the bill would give more authority over the crypto industry to the CFTC than to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), along with funding "to implement the policies."
"So what is the legislation missing? Just a clear path forward," Schwartz added, according to the newsletter.
He said since the bill will be seen by multiple committees, "it is highly unlikely it would be considered in its complete, current form," he noted in the newsletter. Schwartz posited portions of the bill might be tacked onto different "must-pass legislative efforts," such as spending bills.
