US Reps Call For Crypto Regulation Research

To help further use of digital currency and head off price manipulation, two U.S. representatives have proposed bipartisan bills in Congress. Republican Representative Ted Budd and Democrat Representative Darren Soto introduced the proposed laws to make the U.S. a “leader in the cryptocurrency industry,” CoinDesk reported.

One bill, the Virtual Currency Consumer Protection Act of 2018, calls for research on price manipulation of digital currencies to help keep investors safe. And a second bill, the U.S. Virtual Currency Market and Regulatory Competitiveness Act of 2018, seeks to have regulators research regulations for digital currencies that currently exist in other places around the world. In addition, the bill wants them to recommend changes to drive digital currency adoption in the States.

In a joint statement, Budd and Soto said that the blockchain as well as digital currencies could help further economic growth. “That’s why we must ensure that the United States is at the forefront of protecting consumers and the financial well-being of virtual currency investors, while also promoting an environment of innovation to maximize the potential of these technological advances,” the lawmakers said.

Budd and Soto aren’t the only lawmakers to call for such actions, as representatives have been pulling for bills related to the blockchain and digital currency since 2014. Their bills come a few months after U.S. representatives wrote to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton in an attempt to get more clarity on cryptocurrency regulation. The lawmakers wanted the official to explain in clearer terms how the agency plans to regulate digital currency.

The U.S. representatives wrote in their letter at the time: “It is important that all policy makers work toward developing clearer guidelines between those digital tokens that are securities and those that are not, through better articulation of SEC policy and, ultimately, through formal guidance or legislation.” In addition, the letter writers warned that the ambiguity could send innovation to other nations.