Congressmen Darren Soto, a Democrat from Florida, and Ted Budd, a Republican from North Carolina, yesterday introduced two pieces of legislation into the American House of Representatives that they hope will support healthy cryptocurrency markets and innovation in the US.
The bills target cryptocurrency price manipulation and competitiveness specifically, and are designed, “…to ensure America remains a global leader in fostering innovation in this evolving global marketplace.”
According to Soto and Budd, the two bills –The Virtual Currency Consumer Protection Act of 2018 <and> The U.S. Virtual Currency Market and Regulatory Competitiveness Act of 2018– “direct the CFTC and other financial regulators to make critical recommendations for how to improve the regulatory environment for both the consumer and business development side.”
With regards to market manipulation, the Congressman cite,”…concerns raised in the New York Attorney General’s recent report…” on its “Virtual Markets Integrity Initiative.”
According to Reuters, that report, which was released in September, found:
“Several cryptocurrency exchanges are plagued by poor market surveillance, pervasive conflicts of interest and lack sufficient customer protections…operate with lower safeguards than traditional financial markets, are vulnerable to market manipulation and put customer funds at risk.”
The congressmen also cite recent coverage by the Wall Street Journal, regarding, “…potentially abusive software of bots manipulating the price of Bitcoin.”
In a joint statement, the Congressmen say the bills, “provide data on how Congress can best mitigate these risks while propelling development that benefits our economy.”
Accordingly, The Virtual Currency Consumer Protection Act, “…directs the CFTC to describe…how price manipulation could happen in virtual markets and…make recommendations… (to) improve the CFTC’s monitoring procedures.”
On the competitiveness side, The U.S. Virtual Currency Market and Regulatory Competitiveness Act of 2018…”directs the CFTC to conduct a comparative study of the regulation of virtual currency in other countries and then make recommendations for regulatory changes to promote competitiveness in the U.S..”
Following that assessment, the bills direct the CFTC to, “make recommendations for regulatory changes to promote competitiveness in the U.S…(including) examining alternatives for current burdensome regulations that may inhibit innovation.”
