Are the United States candidates for a clarification of crypto-assets?

A member of the American Congress, Paul Gosar, wants to bring clarity but also legitimacy to cryptoassets and thus promote their development. The deputy tabled a bill, the Crypto-Currency Act of 2020.

Entrepreneurs will not say otherwise. The emergence of new businesses generally requires regulatory framework and legal stability – and especially capital. However in terms of crypto-assets, there is still work to be done to claim this legal certainty.

Defining such a framework is precisely the ambition of the elected republican Paul Gosar, which has tabled a bill before the United States Congress: the Crypto-Currency Act of 2020. Through this text, the parliamentarian wishes to provide answers to several regulatory issues concerning crypto-assets.

Clarity and legitimacy for crypto-assets grouped into 3 categories

The bill aims to bring not only clarity but also legitimacy to crypto assets in the United States, ”summed up with Coindesk Paul Gosar’s parliamentary assistant. And this notably involves a classification of crypto-assets.

These would thus fall into three main categories, including regulation would be the responsibility of three separate financial authorities: crypto-commodity (raw materials), cryptocurrency and crypto-security (security).

The supervision of these assets based on the blockchain would therefore, depending on its nature, fall within the purview of the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission), from Secretary of the Treasury and finally DRY, the Securities and Exchange Commission responsible for overseeing the stock exchange.

According to the provisions of Crypto-Currency Act of 2020, Bitcoin would not be considered a cryptocurrency. This category would include stablecoins, or more generally dollar-backed assets: Tether (USDT), USD Coin, TrueUSD, etc. And instructs the US Treasury to regulate these crypto-assets through the FinCen (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network).

A bill deemed "stillborn"

And Bitcoin ? It would continue to be a commodity, as it is today in many countries. Crypto-commodities thus group together economic goods or services stored on the blockchain or on a decentralized register.

Finally, cryptos or crypto-securities are defined as "all debt, equity and derivative instruments that are based on a blockchain or a decentralized cryptographic register. "

But why such a framework? The answer is simple: provide increased legal certainty that will attract traditional investors, who today are reluctant to invest in crypto-assets. Regulatory concerns are the biggest drag on investment, according to a Bitwise study.

The Crypto-Currency Act of 2020 however, is unlikely to be adopted according to lawyers and cryptoassets professionals. Observers note, for example, gaps in the understanding of federal laws and the regulatory authorities concerned. For Kristin Smith of the Blockchain Association, the bill is simply doomed to failure.