On September 29, 2022, “United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, […] introduced the Digital Trading Clarity Act of 2022, which provides digital asset exchanges with a safe harbor from certain U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement actions, providing clarity around the classifications of digital assets and applicable liabilities under existing securities laws without sacrificing consumer protection” [Hagerty, B. HAGERTY INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO PROVIDE CRUCIAL REGULATORY CLARITY FOR DIGITAL ASSETS. (Accessed October 1, 2022)].
Senator Hagerty provides us with an overview of the problems to be addressed by this legislation amid the current regulatory abyss:
The current lack of regulatory clarity for digital assets presents entrepreneurs and businesses with a choice: navigate the significant regulatory ambiguity in the U.S., or move overseas to markets with clear digital asset regulations.
According to the Senator, it is his position that the current state of affairs in this regard:
[…] discourages investment and job creation here in America and jeopardizes the United States’ leadership in this transformational technology at such a crucial time. This legislation is an important step toward providing digital asset intermediaries with much-needed certainty and removing the barriers to entry currently impeding the growth and liquidity of U.S. cryptocurrency markets.
To become law, the legislation still needs the approval of the Senate, the House of Representatives, as well as the President of the United States. Until such time, this legislation remains an important talking point within the ‘cryptosphere’.
Meanwhile:
[r]unning parallel to the regulatory reforms recommended by the US senators, the federal government amped up efforts to study the feasibility of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in the American market. Under Biden’s directive, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) analyzed 18 CBDC design choices — outlining various pros and cons of each system: ‘It is possible that the technology underpinning a permissionless approach will improve significantly over time, which might make it more suitable to be used in a CBDC system.’ The technical evaluation for a U.S. CBDC system highlighted the department’s inclination toward an off-ledger, hardware-protected system.
[Sarkar, A. US senator bill seeks to cushion crypto exchanges from SEC enforcement actions. (Accessed October 1, 2022)].
