Senator Gillibrand Rallies Democrat Colleagues to Adopt Digital Assets Regulation

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is in talks with her Democrat colleagues in the Senate to support cryptocurrency regulation amid speculations of a government shutdown.

Speaking at the Mainnet Conference on Sept 22, Gillibrand noted that she is on track to convince her party members to embrace more digital asset regulations to move it from a partisan to a bi-partisan approach.

“ I don’t think it has to be a partisan issue. I’m optimistic that through conversation, and through socialization of the ideas that are in our bill, it will become more bipartisan.”

According to her, the Senate Banking Committee is key to setting a huge milestone in a sector that remains uncertain in terms of legislation leaving investors at risk.

In partnership with crypto skeptics like Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Sherrod Brown, the chairperson of the Senate Banking Committee she hopes to achieve a vote on the bill by the end of this Congress.

Gillibrand is among few Democrat lawmakers that continue to push for virtual assets regulations in the United States following similar global efforts.

Gillibrand and Lummis’ attempt by the community

Although full-scale digital asset regulation in the US is still described as a long shot, Sen. Cynthia Lummis and Gillibrand have rolled out a new crypto bill to create a template for digital asset regulation.

The Responsible Financial Innovation Act seeks to relegate the role of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as it will describe most crypto assets as commodities placing them under the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

The duo hopes to make the perfect bi-partisan attempt for this bill to scale through after last year’s issues triggered by the collapse of the Terra network and the infamous implosion of FTX.

“Crypto assets are constantly evolving, and as the industry changed during the last year, Senator Gillibrand and I worked to improve our legislation to ensure it appropriately balances consumer protections while allowing innovation to continue. Make no mistake, bad actors exist, but we cannot lose sight of the potential of crypto assets and distributed ledgers to modernize our financial industry.”

America’s chaotic crypto industry

The US crypto market remains riddled with uncertainty as to regulation as both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission continue their regulatory onslaught.

While crypto regulations are stalled in Congress, both agencies have group assets like traditional stocks leading to the SEC’s lawsuit on Coinbase and Binance for allegedly offering unregistered securities, an accusation both companies have vowed to “vigorously defend.”

As the “Wild West” continues in the US market, much of the sector resorts to the courts to offer some form of clarity occasioning another round of back and forth.

This situation has led to a fear expressed by analysts and some policymakers on a potential migration away from the United States to countries with clearer rules.

The recent wins of Ripple and Grayscale over the SEC have sparked optimism for the future.

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