On Thursday, the Senate Agriculture Committee is expected to take up the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act (DCCPA) – S. 4760. The legislation would designate the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as the primary regulator for trading cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. Because the CFTC falls under the jurisdiction of the Senate Agriculture Committee, the committee is leading consideration of the bill.

The Senate Banking Committee, which oversees the SEC, had previously been working on its own crypto market?structure proposal. However, major crypto industry stakeholders withdrew their support for a markup after Senators raised concerns about the loophole in federal law that some crypto exchanges have used to pay rewards. Lawmakers worry that continued use of this loophole could siphon deposits away from banks that rely on those funds to make loans in local communities.

If crypto assets are regulated by the SEC as securities, they would likely be subject to more stringent disclosure requirements, investor protections, and compliance standards. By contrast, some observers believe that placing crypto oversight under the CFTC would result in a lighter regulatory framework that is viewed as more favorable to the crypto industry.

Author: sdbrownlow

Student of Design