cointelegraph.com
Members of the US Senate Banking Committee have filed more than 100 amendments to a crypto market structure bill set for markup on Thursday, with the proposed changes mostly related to stablecoins, software developers and ethics.
According to a list obtained by POLITICO, Democratic senators have proposed dozens of changes, while Republicans are seeking slight adjustments to the bill.
It is not clear what the specific details of each amendment are, but some concern issues the committee has been seeking to solve for months, including stablecoin yield, crypto software developer protections and ethics provisions.
The list offers insight into the issues the committee will likely debate at the bill’s markup on Thursday as it seeks to advance the measure to the Senate floor. The Senate Banking Committee indefinitely delayed a previous markup in January after major crypto lobbyist Coinbase withdrew support for the bill.
The legislation aims to divide how US market regulators oversee crypto, with the House passing a version of it in July called the CLARITY Act. Crypto and banking lobbyists, along with lawmakers, have fought over provisions on stablecoins and whether government officials should be barred from involvement in crypto.
Further restrictions on offering stablecoin yields have been the bill’s most contentious provision, with banking and crypto lobbyists failing to reach an agreement after months of negotiations.
A version of the bill released on Monday banned third-party platforms like crypto exchanges from offering yield on stablecoins in a way that is “functionally equivalent” to the payment of interest on an interest-bearing bank deposit.
The list shows Democratic Senators Jack Reed and Tina Smith introducing an amendment to “strengthen [the] prohibition on interest/yield by using a ‘substantially similar’ test rather than an ‘equivalence’ test.”
An excerpt of the leaked list showing amendments for debate by Senator Jack Reed, with one supported by Senator Tina Smith. Source: POLITICO
Another planned amendment from Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen pitches an ethics provision that Democrats and some Republicans have supported, which would bar the president, vice president, senior officials, members of Congress and their families from owning, promoting or being affiliated with crypto.
Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto also plans an amendment protecting software developers by “creating a safe harbor from criminal liability for not registering as a money transmitter,” a provision that is supported by many crypto groups.
Other amendments concern sanctions, institutions engaging in crypto, and one from Democratic Senator Andy Kim that seeks to reestablish the Justice Department’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, which the department dismantled in April last year.
Republicans have a majority on the Banking Committee and in the Senate, but some party members, such as Senator Thom Tillis, have said they won’t support the bill without certain provisions.
Republicans also control the Senate, but will need some Democrats onside to pass it with a three-fifths majority to end any potential debate on the bill.