The United States senators present a bill to regulate crypto

On Tuesday, a bipartisan pair of the United States senators presented a bill that would set up new rules for crypto and hand the bulk of their oversight to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Introduced by one of Congress’ most vocal cryptocurrency advocates, Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis and Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the bill marks one of the most ambitious efforts yet by lawmakers to place clear guard rails around controversial and quickly developing crypto markets.

The act will demand that the CFTC, not the Securities and Exchange Commission, play the main role in regulating cryptocurrency products, most of which the senators said run more like commodities than securities. The smaller CFTC is usually considered a friendlier regulator for crypto, as the SEC has usually found that cryptocurrency products must stick to a host of securities requirements.

The bill is not anticipated to become a law in the latest session of Congress, with the midterm elections just months away, but its blueprint could act as a beginning point for upcoming debates about how best to manage those markets. The senators said the bill is targeted at offering clarity and certainty to cryptocurrency markets, in addition to consumer protections.

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