Rep. Tom Emmer mulls bringing back bill aimed at reducing crypto red tape
Crypto-friendly Congressman Tom Emmer is considering re-floating a bipartisan bill that would lift the requirement for certain crypto businesses and projects to register as Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) in the wake of the FTX collapse.
The bill titled “Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act” was led by Republican Emmer and Democratic Congressman Darren Soto. It was initially tabled at the 117th congress on Aug. 17, 2021, but did not make it any further down the line.
Probably a good time to re-up my bipartisan Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act.The bill asserts that blockchain entities that never custody consumer funds are not money transmitters… providing necessary legal certainty to ensure the future of crypto reflects American values.
Emmer may be liking his chances a bit more the second time around given the current climate in which the U.S. government is scrambling to get regulation off the ground to prevent another FTX-style disaster.
Tweeting on Dec. 15, Emmer noted that it's “probably a good time” to re-introduce the bill, adding that:
The bill itself aims to set out guidelines that remove certain hurdles and requirements for “blockchain developers and service providers” such as miners, multi-signature service providers and decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms.
It was put forward in response to a June 2021 draft guidance from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that was pushing to expand the definition of virtual asset services providers (VASPs) to include “any provider that may develop or operate a DeFi platform, even if they have no interaction with users.”
While a number of U.S. politicians have been taking the liberty to attack crypto alongside the FTX collapse, during the House Financial Services
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