Senate Banking Committee Releases Updated Draft Crypto Market Structure Bill

The U.S. Senate Banking Committee has released an updated version of the draft Crypto Market Structure Bill, which aims to provide regulatory clarity for the crypto industry. The latest draft includes new provisions that address key issues, such as staking, DePIN, and airdrops.

Senate Drops Updated Draft Crypto Market Structure Bill

The updated draft bill contains new provisions to ensure that certain crypto activities are not classified as securities. The bill now exempts DePIN, staking, and airdrops from securities laws. This aligns with the SEC’s guidance that staking activities are not securities.

Furthermore, the Committee expanded the provisions under Section 101, which touch on ancillary assets. This excludes assets that are not securities and provides that staking and airdrops are not securities. It also prevents the SEC from bringing enforcement actions and lawsuits against existing tokens, as long as they are not fraudulent.

This directly addresses Ripple’s feedback on the Crypto Market Structure Bill, in which the crypto firm warned that there needs to be adequate provisions to prevent future SEC administrations from adopting Gary Gensler’s approach. With this, Congress aims to curb potential excesses from regulators.

The updated draft bill also contains provisions that protect software developers. This includes DeFi exemptions where the same standard that applies to centralized platforms isn’t obtainable with these decentralized platforms. The bill also incorporates the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, which also seeks to protect developers.

Adequate protection for software developers has become a key issue, especially with the court’s verdict in Roman Storm’s trial, in which he was found guilty of the unlicensed money transmitting charge.

However, following the trial, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said it would no longer bring such charges against developers of decentralized platforms except where they create the software with ill intent. The provision in the Crypto Market Structure Bill also presents guarantees to these developers.

Creating Synergy Between The SEC And CFTC

The updated draft Crypto Market Structure Bill also contains provisions to ensure that the SEC and CFTC work hand in hand to regulate the crypto industry. Section 701 lays down a process for both agencies to work together on a Joint Advisory Committee that will decide on matters in the crypto industry.

Section 702 also provides for how these agencies can resolve disputes in their oversight of the crypto industry. It is worth noting that the SEC and CFTC are already collaborating to provide regulatory clarity for the industry. As CoinGape reported, both agencies will host a joint roundtable on September 29 to discuss how to harmonize their regulatory frameworks for the crypto space.

Meanwhile, the White House had earlier given Congress a September deadline to pass the Crypto Market Structure Bill. However, according to Punchbowl, Democratic Senator Mark Warner has suggested that the September 30 deadline for a Banking markup isn’t feasible without bipartisan support.