50 Digital Asset Bills Impacting Regulation, Blockchain, And CBDC Policy

The 118th Congress has reached a milestone of seeing 50 bills and resolutions that have been introduced so far which cover digital assets and crypto regulatory landscape in a variety of ways. The number of bills does not even include draft legislation on stablecoins from either Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) or Representative Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), nor a much-discussed but not yet public bill that would cover the entire digital asset regulatory sphere from Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).

These numbers may be eye-popping but by no means surprising. The amount of legislation currently introduced in Congress reflects the passing of the Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act that became law in 2021, representing the first time a new law that directly impacted the crypto industry was passed. With the surge in the crypto markets that continued after that bill became law last year up until the recent crash, much has also been reported in the media regarding a surge of crypto lobbying efforts as well as attempts to influence politicians with significant campaign fundraising as well.

In addition, the types of policy impacts that digital assets touches from foreign relations, monetary policy, consumer protection, and interpretations over how digital assets are considered, whether as securities or commodities for the industry has broadened attention among a larger pool of policymakers. Combine multiple policy impacts with emerging technologies such as decentralized finance and NFTs, makes the exploration of new legislation for the industry a fascinating and complex path for D.C. policymakers.

Full article can be found on forbes.com