United States of America: Introduction of Responsible Financial Innovation Act

On 7 June 2022, the United States Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), introduced the Responsible Financial Innovation Act in the US Congress. The Bill aims to regulate the digital assets industry and create federal standards to harmonise the regulation of cryptocurrencies. The Bill provides a definition of digital assets and classifies them into securities and commodities. Specifically, the Bill requires providers of stablecoins to have a 100% reserve in USD on their assets and would allow banks and credit unions to issue payment stablecoins in order to promote faster payments. Furthermore, the Bill includes transparency requirements for digital asset service providers to ensure that consumers make informed decisions. Moreover, the Bill includes provisions regarding the way the actors involved in the digital asset industry are taxed, specifying that the assets are not classified as income if they are not redeemed for cash. Finally, the Bill would primarily grant the Commodity Futures Trading Commission oversight powers.