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House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) has reached out to regulators in a bid to facilitate the approval of a cryptocurrency-focused legislation that aims to provide a framework for U.S.-based digital asset exchanges to register with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The letter to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, dated June 23, asks him to delineate how the Digital Asset Market Structure proposal would impact the SEC’s “existing authorities,” including its “mission and ability to protect investors” and “maintain fair, orderly and efficient markets.”
A similar letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen asks her to explain what impact the bill would have on the Treasury Department and its “mission to promote economic prosperity” and “ensure the financial stability of the United States,” as well as how it would address or conflict with “any policy recommendations made by the Treasury Department or Financial Stability Oversight Council in its various digital asset reports.”
The Digital Asset Market Structure proposal, endorsed by Representative Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and Representative Glenn Thompson (R-Penn.), stands as the most notable cryptocurrency regulatory proposition introduced in Congress this year. The preliminary bill aims to authorize the trading of digital securities, commodities, and stablecoins, while also outlining clear criteria for differentiating between crypto-based securities and commodities.
The correspondence indicates the Democrats' endeavors to promote a bill that could potentially offer enhanced regulatory transparency to the rapidly growing cryptocurrency industry. However, this particular bill has faced opposition from various members within the party.
Under Gensler's leadership, the SEC has made concerted efforts to regulate the cryptocurrency industry by taking a series of enforcement measures, specifically focusing on prominent market participants like Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, and Bittrex.
Waters requested that Gensler and Yellen submit their responses to her inquiries by Friday.