Senator Boozman: Bipartisan Agreement Remains Elusive on Cryptocurrency Legislation
A Republican version of the market structure bill has been unveiled by the US Senate Agriculture Committee, featuring safeguards for cryptocurrency developers, with markup proceedings scheduled for the following week.
John Boozman, who chairs the US Senate Agriculture Committee, has indicated that committee Republicans have not yet reached consensus with their Democratic counterparts regarding multiple "fundamental policy issues" concerning legislation aimed at establishing crypto market structure.
The Senate Agriculture chair made these remarks following Wednesday's release of a Republican version of the proposed legislation by the committee, in advance of the markup session scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 27. According to Boozman, the draft legislation lacks backing from Democratic members of the committee.
"While differences remain on fundamental policy issues, this bill builds on our bipartisan discussion draft while incorporating input from stakeholders and represents months of work," said Boozman.
"Although it's unfortunate that we couldn't reach an agreement, I am grateful for the collaboration that has made this legislation better. It's time we move this bill, and I look forward to the markup next week."
The proposed legislation seeks to establish a regulatory framework defining how the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission will oversee cryptocurrency markets.
Republican bill includes crypto dev protections
James Murphy, a cryptocurrency attorney who goes by "MetaLawMan" on social media platforms, noted that the legislation "creates a path for DeFi to steer clear of CFTC regulation."
According to Murphy, the bill offers protection for decentralized finance software developers and specific service providers from liability under regulations and rules established by the CFTC.
Murphy further explained that the legislation excludes any provisions regarding stablecoin yield regulation, as such matters fall within the Banking Committee's jurisdiction.
Bill Hughes, a lawyer at Ethereum software solutions provider Consensys, elaborated:
"In sum, the Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act: Does not regulate self-custody wallets, Does not regulate non-custodial DeFi interfaces, Regulates any platform that takes custody or controls execution, and Focuses squarely on intermediaries, not protocols or users."
The publication of the draft legislation arrives amid speculation regarding a possible postponement of the Senate Banking Committee's crypto market structure bill until February or March.