Regulators in the United States have a tendency to be behind the curve when it comes to new technologies disrupting traditional or current ways of things going on. A prime example that is not crypto-related is how gas vehicles pay a tax on their gas that is meant to be spent for the upkeep of roads however electric vehicles do not face the same tax so there is lost revenue for fixing the roads as drivers transition to green vehicles. Congress has been wrestling with this for the last few years about what to do and if a milage tax should be implemented. This is just an example of the time that it can take for regulation to transpire!
While crypto-related comments are being much more common by politicians there actually has been prior legislation attempted/passed as well as investigations or studies. For instance, Congressional Research Service or CRS issued a report in July 2019 about the regulations surrounding digital currency and blockchain what you can read here. This report was requested and presented to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and does a pretty good job of breaking down the basic terms and what different things mean in the crypto sphere.
During the 116th Congress which ran from 2019-2020, 40 different bills were proposed during the session and two actually were passed into law! These bills that were proposed fell into a couple of groups in general: use in criminal activity, regulatory framework, use in the US government, and a US central bank dollar. Further examining the bills that were proposed none of the proposed bills passed and became law on their own and instead were passed via the appropriations process. This is when the government decides how and where to spend money and is typically a tricky issue. The two things that passed and became law did not enact any rules and instead focused on how the use of cryptocurrency could affect sanctions and the second called for a briefing on how the Department of Defense could potentially use blockchain technology.
Of the 40 bills proposed 75% or 30 of them deal with criminal activity or improving regulations on crypto. As it currently stands none of these have become law. The closest bill to becoming law that would deal with crypto and could affect it would be the bipartisan $1 Trillion infrastructure bill and even that would only affect large players who mine or stake. Normal individuals would not be affected by this bill. It is not guaranteed to pass though as it faces the House still and there is a chance they could change some aspects of it or kill the bill entirely.
So far in the 117th Congressional session 18 crypto/blockchain bills have been proposed and that is the next part of the series I look forward to writing!
