Pro Bitcoin US Senator to table new crypto bill in 2022

The Wyoming Senator is looking to provide clear guidance on regulations for various asset classes via a proposed crypto bill

Senator Cynthia Lummis is preparing to bring a comprehensive bill into congress, according to a report by Bloomberg. The said bill will enact crypto users' protection and provide guidance on assets and their classification. It will also provide guidance on the regulation of stablecoins and also define how the digital assets should be taxed, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

A Bitcoin proponent, Lummis has been a long-time champion for favourable crypto regulations. Her proposed bill, if approved, would go a long way in clarifying the situation on current laws and the status of digital assets in the US. The proposal will seek to establish an oversight body under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) joint jurisdiction.

Even before election to her political seat, Senator Lummis was a Bitcoin advocate having fiercely defended the asset. In fact, she is one of the few politicians to have accepted campaign donations in crypto; her website took contributions in Bitcoin via BitPay. In a recent op-ed, she questioned the nominations of Jerome Powell and Lael Brainard to the Federal Reserve as their political handling of digital assets stood in the way of crypto in Wyoming.

A divided house, literally

Senator Lummis has got her work cut out, and she knows that it won't be easy to get the house to agree on her proposal. The Republican lawmaker currently sits at the Senate Banking Committee and will be hoping to gain assistance in normalising digital assets in the country through regulations.

On her Twitter platform, the Senator has urged voters to push their Senators towards supporting the bill as she seeks bipartisan cosponsors from a relatively split house as far as digital assets are concerned.

For any regulation to be put to the vote at the floor of the house, a minimum of 60 votes is constitutionally required, with the house currently split 50 – 50, Democrats – Republicans. Vice President Kamala Harris holds the deciding tiebreaker vote if need be.

The Wyoming Senator declared her ownership of Bitcoin in October as required by the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act. Lummis revealed that she made the purchase in August – a disclosure that crowns her as a Bitcoin evangelist in the political circle of regulations. As per a Wall Street Journal report, the only other member of the Senate Banking Committee with direct crypto exposure is Senator Pat Toomey. 

Elsewhere in the House of Representatives, questions have arisen on crypto ownership and other digital assets. Congressional Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who sits on the House of Representatives' Financial Services Committee, recently spoke out, saying owning these assets could well cloud the judgement of lawmakers, as they are privy to "sensitive information and upcoming policy."