Lawmakers have proposed 35 bills focused on blockchain and cryptocurrency policy in Congress in 2021, Forbes reported Monday.
Congressional members put forward three types of legislation that centered on the regulation of cryptocurrencies, central bank digital currency and applications of blockchain technology.
One of those measures is a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill with cryptocurrency tax provisions. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law in November will direct cryptocurrency exchanges to notify the Internal Revenue Service of crypto transactions through the 1099-B form.
Another bill to pass the House in 2021 was the Eliminate Barriers To Innovation Act, which is currently in the Senate Banking Committee. The legislation would establish a Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission Working Group on Digital Assets that would shed light on differences in blockchain tokens between the two agencies.
Lawmakers also introduced two bills to address the use of cryptocurrency in ransomware and cyberattacks like the Colonial Pipeline hack and those are the Ransom Disclosure Act proposed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and the Sanctions and Stop Ransomware Act of 2021 introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.
Reps. French Hill, R-Ark., and Bill Foster, D-Ill., co-sponsored the Central Bank Digital Currency Study Act of 2021, which would require the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System to carry out a study on CBDCs based on a Bank for International Settlements survey.
The Potomac Officers Club will hold its Digital Currency and National Security Forum on Jan. 27. Sign up for the virtual event to hear from government and industry leaders as they talk about the implications, risks, opportunities and challenges that digital currencies pose to the future of the U.S. economy and national security.
