US Senators Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Regulate Digital Assets

U.S. Senators Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand co-sponsored a long-awaited bipartisan bill aimed at creating a clear regulatory framework for digital assets in the United States. The bill is known as the Responsible Financial Innovation Act (RFIA), also known as the Loomis Bland Act. The Responsible Financial Innovation Act aims to improve the flexibility, innovation, transparency, and consumer protection of digital assets.
In the bill, the SEC is responsible for securities (its definition includes many digital assets), while the CFTC is responsible for commodities. In the new bill, the SEC will continue to be responsible for digital assets equivalent to securities. At the same time, the CFTC will be designated as the agency responsible for digital assets that are not securities. This will greatly enhance the role of the CFTC in regulating the digital asset market. The bill also clearly distinguishes digital assets that are eligible for securities and commodities, focusing on the purpose of the assets and the rights they confer on consumers. It adopts the SEC’s definition of securities, with a particular focus on decentralization, including the provision of digital assets that start as securities and are subsequently reclassified as commodities if they become sufficiently decentralized.
Provisions are also made for stablecoins, which, if passed in their current form, would obligate issuers of stablecoins that claim to be backed by 100% assets and claim to be redeemable to make those tokens convertible to the equivalent dollar value. The bill also imposes higher disclosure requirements on digital asset service providers (such as exchanges), and it requires exchanges to ensure that their customers are aware of the products they purchase and the risks associated with them.