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US Senate Committee Approves Blockchain Bill As Crypto Insiders Push to Revamp Regulations

July 12, 2019

The Department of Commerce is one step closer to a standard definition of “blockchain” on the federal level as the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved the Blockchain Promotion Act on July 10th.

The bipartisan bill establishes a blockchain working group and is one of many efforts toward devising a clear regulatory framework.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s lack of clear rules encouraging blockchain innovation continues to ignite people across the crypto industry to press for substantial change. Last June, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton explicitly stated,

“We are not going to do any violence to the traditional definition of a security that has worked for a long time. We’ve been doing this a long time, there’s no need to change the definition.”

While the mobile messaging platform Kik has been the public face of dissent, pushing back against an SEC lawsuit over its initial coin offering that was deemed to be “an unregistered securities sale”, many other industry players are using various avenues to challenge the status quo.

Startupmanagement.org, a knowledge resource for entrepreneurs has compiled a list of companies, associations and people who are pushing the SEC to revamp its outdated regulatory framework, implementing policies that can help advance blockchain innovation.

Writes author William Mougayar,

“Via their actions (and inactions), the SEC is ensuring that most new US blockchain entrepreneurs are staying as far away from the US as they possibly can.”

Who’s Who of Industry Leaders Challenging Regulators

  • Andreessen Horowitz (A16Z)

  • Blockchain Association

  • Chamber of Digital Commerce

  • Circle

  • Coin Center

  • Cooley

  • Defend Crypto

  • Electronic Frontier Foundation

  • Giancarlo, Christopher

  • Global Digital Finance

  • Kik

  • Kraken

  • Libra / Facebook

  • Massad, Timothy

  • Messari

  • Mougayar, William (the article’s author)

  • Peirce, Hester

  • Perkins Coie

  • ProShares, Direxion, GraniteShares, Bitwise

  • Ripple

  • Union Square Ventures

  • Wilson, Fred

  • Winklevoss Twins

  • Wyoming and Caitlin Long

The introduction of the Token Taxonomy Act, a bipartisan bill introduced to the House, would amend the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1940. Reintroduced in April, it would exempt cryptocurrencies from US securities laws.

Calling the Token Taxonomy Act “the key to unlocking blockchain technology in America,” Congressmen Ted Budd and Warren Davidson write,

 “The Token Taxonomy Act will make sure the development of this technology stays in the United States all while promoting better investor protections, capital formation, and innovation.”

…

“Without it, the U.S. is surrendering its innovative origins and ownership of the digital economy to Europe and Asia. Passing this legislation, Congress would send a powerful message to innovators and investors around the world that the U.S. is the best destination for blockchain technology.”

You can check out the Who’s Who in the Fight for Better Blockchain Regulation in the US here.

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