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The Senate Prepared More Than 100 Amendments to the Cryptocurrency Bill
The U.S. Senate Banking Committee is preparing to review a cryptocurrency market regulation bill. More than 100 amendments have been proposed, covering stablecoins, liability of software developers, sanctions compliance, and ethical restrictions for government officials.
According to Politico, most of the amendments were introduced by Democratic senators. Republicans mainly proposed technical corrections. The full wording of the amendments has not yet been published. However, the list itself shows that the committee is returning to issues on which both sides failed to reach agreement for several months.
Stablecoins Remain the Main Point of Dispute
The primary controversial issue remains yield generation on stablecoins. Banking lobby groups are pushing for stricter restrictions because they view such products as competitors to traditional bank deposits. Meanwhile, cryptocurrency companies want exchanges and other platforms to retain the ability to offer users rewards for stablecoin-related activities.
Under the current version of the bill, third-party services are prohibited from paying yield on stablecoins if the mechanism closely resembles bank deposits. Senators Jack Reed and Tina Smith are proposing to strengthen this rule by replacing the criterion of functional similarity with a standard of explicit resemblance. This could extend the restriction to a much wider range of crypto products.
Ethical Restrictions for Officials
A separate group of amendments concerns ethics requirements. Senator Chris Van Hollen proposed banning the president, vice president, senior government officials, members of Congress, and their immediate family members from owning cryptocurrencies, promoting them, or participating in related projects.
Protection for Crypto Software Developers
Another set of amendments focuses on developers of cryptocurrency software. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto proposed protecting developers from criminal liability for failing to register as money transmitters, provided they do not directly offer financial services to users.
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