Today the US House of Representatives approved the Consumer Safety Technology Act (H.R. 8128). Included in this were the Digital Taxonomy Act and Blockchain Innovation Act.
The focus of this bill is consumer protection, with goals of limiting risk from token scams and harnessing power from the blockchain to fight fraud.
Under this act, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), is to train staff and allocate resources to identifying "deceptive acts or practices involving digital tokens". The actions taken by the FTC will be reported to the House Committee of Energy and Commerce.
The Act recognizes that digital tokens and blockchain are the future and important for American innovation. The FTC is to provide recommendations for the US to remain competitive but also protect itself against fraud.
The Blockchain Innovation Act, which was included in H.R. 8128 directs the Secretary of Commerce to work with the FTC to report on the benefits of blockchain technology and how it can be used to fight fraud.
In a statement from Representative Darren Soto:
"Blockchain technology has an incredible amount of potential for innovation and economic growth. I believe our government needs to support that growth, establish light-touch regulations to ensure certainity, protect innovation, stop fraud and enable its appropriate use for government, business and consumers".
Blockchain and cryptocurrency bills often struggle getting through congress. The passage of this bill will pave the way for more blockchain related legislation.
