Members of House introduce another blockchain-related bill. Reps ask SEC for clarity on treatment of cryptotokens.
Although Capitol Hill has been preoccupied over the last few weeks with the Senate’s consideration of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, that hasn’t stopped the introduction of several blockchain-related bills.
Late last month, Rep. Tom Emmer, a Minnesota Republican, introduced three blockchain-related bills. This week, Democrat Rep. Doris Matsui of California and Republican Brett Guthrie of Kentucky introduced H.R. 6913, the Blockchain Promotion Act of 2018, which would create a working group to establish a common definition of blockchain.
“Blockchain technology could transform the global digital economy. Opportunities to deploy blockchain technology ranges from greatly increased transparency, efficiencies and security in supply chains to more-opportunistically managing access to spectrum,” said Congresswoman Matsui in a press release. “As our economies become increasingly digital, more organizations are turning to blockchain to keep track of their business transactions,” said Guthrie. “Blockchain can be a great resource for innovation and technology, but we must figure out exactly what best common definition is and how it can be used.
Although the legislation would reflect a welcome acknowledgment of the value of blockchain technology, it does not address some key points of regulatory uncertainty. To that end, another bipartisan group of members of Congress sent a letter this week to Jay Clayton, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The letter asks the SEC to provide clear guidance about when blockchain based tokens will be treated as securities, which are subject to restrictive regulations.
“This letter is the byproduct of months of work and conversations with industry, trade groups, and my fellow members of Congress,” said Rep. Ted Budd, a North Carolina Republican. “Sending this letter now is one Congress can do to make sure we stop this new technology from being driven offshore. The bottom line is that we must make sure the United States of America is the world’s leader in financial technology.”
