Lummis Says US Crypto Bill May Not Pass The Senate This Year

Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis said Tuesday at the Bloomberg Crypto Summit that the U.S. Senate is unlikely to vote on the bipartisan cryptocurrency bill this year. 

Lummis said in a pre-recorded interview played at the Tuesday event, “It’s a big topic, it’s comprehensive, and it’s still new to many U.S. senators”. She further added that it may be difficult for lawmakers to accept given the large scope of the bill.

Co-sponsored by Lummis and Democrat Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the bill classifies decentralized digital assets as commodities and place them under the interest of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Lilya Tessler, Sidley Austin Head of FinTech Blockchain Group, told Forkast Editor-in-Chief Angie Lau last month, “Right now, [lawmakers are] trying to work out with the regulators, into what jurisdictions the assets [digital assets] fall under.” 

Tax implications, securities laws and banking regulations are also included in the proposal.

Michael Shing, director of risk management of Taipei-based fiat-crypto exchange XREX, wrote in a Forkast commentary, “It will be a defining moment for the crypto industry when we witness definitions such as ‘digital asset’ and ‘payment stablecoin’ being amended into the United States Code, the literal books of the law”.