Virginia Congressman Don Bayer introduced the Digital Asset Market Structure and Investor Protection Act last Thursday, July 29. This 58-page bill aims to incorporate digital assets into existing regulatory structures in the United States.
Once passed, the bill will create an exhaustive regulatory framework for all digital assets by defining whether a certain cryptocurrency should be classified as securities or commodities.
‘Digital assets and blockchain technology hold great promise, and it is clear that assets like bitcoin and ether are here to stay. Unfortunately, the current digital asset market structure and regulatory framework is ambiguous and dangerous for investors and consumers,’ said Bayer on his official website.
He also pointed out that asset holders have been subjected to fraud, theft and manipulation for years. Meanwhile, the Congress continues to ignore the need for the industry to create a comprehensive legal framework.
The bill touches on all the important grey areas that continue to exist in the US crypto market. This will bring both the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) together to create legal clarity on the regulatory status of the top 90% of crypto assets in circulation in the digital sphere.
Beyer is also proposing to authorize the US Federal Reserve to create a central bank for digital currency (CBDC) to grant unprecedented access to the financial transactions of the users.
It will also formalise regulatory requirements for all digital assets and asset securities. These will be classified as monetary instruments under the Bank Secrecy Act to strengthen transparency, especially in anti-money laundering enforcement.
There are also fraud prevention measures in the bill. It is said in the provision that any digital assets that are not recorded on a public ledger within 24 hours will be reported to a CFTC-registered trade repository.
The digital asset trade repository will collect and maintain information of records about digital asset sales and transactions to provide a centralised recordkeeping facility for all cryptocurrencies in the market.
However, this can prove difficult for the anonymity features of most cryptocurrencies. This bill prohibits exchanges or crypto entities from protecting customers under the veil of secrecy and anonymity to prevent fraud.
According to a statement provided by Marc Goldich, partner of the law firm Axler Goldich LLC to CoinDesk, this 58-page legislation is thorough with a deep understanding of crypto technology.
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