[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6154 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6154

 To clarify which Federal agencies regulate digital assets, to require 
     those agencies to notify the public of any Federal licences, 
 certifications, or registrations required to create or trade in such 
                    assets, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 9, 2020

  Mr. Gosar introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on 
Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To clarify which Federal agencies regulate digital assets, to require 
     those agencies to notify the public of any Federal licences, 
 certifications, or registrations required to create or trade in such 
                    assets, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Crypto-Currency Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Crypto-commodity.--The term ``crypto-commodity'' means 
        economic goods or services, including derivatives, that--
                    (A) have full or substantial fungibility;
                    (B) the markets treat with no regard as to who 
                produced the goods or services; and
                    (C) rest on a blockchain or decentralized 
                cryptographic ledger.
            (2) Crypto-currency.--The term ``crypto-currency'' means 
        representations of United States currency or synthetic 
        derivatives resting on a blockchain or decentralized 
        cryptographic ledger, including--
                    (A) such representations or synthetic derivatives 
                that are reserve-backed digital assets that are fully 
                collateralized in a correspondent banking account, such 
                as stablecoins; and
                    (B) synthetic derivatives that are--
                            (i) determined by decentralized oracles or 
                        smart contracts; and
                            (ii) collateralized by crypto-commodities, 
                        other crypto-currencies, or crypto-securities.
            (3) Crypto-security.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``crypto-security'' means 
                all debt and equity that rest on a blockchain or 
                decentralized cryptographic ledger.
                    (B) Exception.--The term ``crypto-security'' does 
                not include a synthetic derivative that--
                            (i) is operated as, and is registered with 
                        the Department of the Treasury as, a money 
                        services business (as defined under section 
                        1010.100 of title 31, Code of Federal 
                        Regulations); and
                            (ii) is operated in compliance with all 
                        applicable requirements of subchapter II of 
                        chapter 53 of title 31, United States Code 
                        (commonly referred to as the ``Bank Secrecy 
                        Act'') and all other Federal anti-money 
                        laundering, anti-terrorism, and screening 
                        requirements of the Office of Foreign Assets 
                        Control and the Financial Crimes Enforcement 
                        Network.
            (4) Decentralized cryptographic ledger.--The term 
        ``decentralized cryptographic ledger'' means a ledger that--
                    (A) runs as a stand-alone blockchain that is 
                secured through a minting mechanism such as proof-of-
                work, proof-of-stake, or otherwise;
                    (B) runs as a cryptographic asset or smart-contract 
                on an existing stand-alone blockchain and is secured 
                through the issuing blockchain minting mechanism;
                    (C) is immutable and can not be overwritten without 
                controlling a majority stake of the associated network;
                    (D) requires a cryptographic link between blocks of 
                transactional data;
                    (E) is permissionless, requiring no third party to 
                transact, only a connection to the internet;
                    (F) is an irreversible bearer commodity, with all 
                transactions being final;
                    (G) is not controllable by any one single entity 
                (defined as having less than half of all nodes 
                controlled by one single entity); and
                    (H) is not directly issued by a nation-state or 
                private entity.
            (5) Decentralized oracle.--The term ``decentralized 
        oracle'' means a service that sends and verifies real world 
        data from external sources outside of a blockchain and submits 
        such information to smart contracts that rest on the 
        blockchain, thus triggering the execution of predefined 
        functions of the smart contract.
            (6) Digital asset.--The term ``digital asset'' means a 
        crypto-commodity, crypto-currency, or crypto-security.
            (7) Insured depository institution.--The term ``insured 
        depository institution'' has the meaning given such term under 
        section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act.
            (8) Primary federal digital asset regulator.--The term 
        ``primary Federal digital asset regulator'' means--
                    (A) the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, with 
                respect to crypto-commodities;
                    (B) the Secretary of the Treasury, acting through 
                the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and the 
                Comptroller of the Currency with respect to crypto-
                currencies; and
                    (C) the Securities and Exchange Commission, with 
                respect to crypto-securities.
            (9) Reserve-backed stablecoin.--The term ``reserve-backed 
        stablecoin'' means a digital asset that--
                    (A) is a representation of currency issued by the 
                United States or a foreign government;
                    (B) rests on a blockchain or decentralized 
                cryptographic ledger; and
                    (C) is collateralized on a one-to-one basis by such 
                currency, and such currency is deposited in an insured 
                depository institution.
            (10) Smart contract.--The term ``smart contract'' means a 
        computer protocol intended--
                    (A) to digitally facilitate, verify, or enforce the 
                negotiation or performance of a contract; and
                    (B) to allow the performance of credible 
                transactions without third parties.
            (11) Synthetic stablecoin.--The term ``synthetic 
        stablecoin'' means a digital asset, other than a reserve-backed 
        stablecoin, that--
                    (A) is stabilized against the value of a currency 
                or other asset; and
                    (B) rests on a blockchain or decentralized 
                cryptographic ledger.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHING AREAS OF PRIMARY REGULATORY OVERSIGHT FOR DIGITAL 
              ASSETS.

    (a) Crypto-Commodities.--The Commodity Futures Trading Commission 
shall be the primary Government agency with the authority to regulate 
crypto-commodities.
    (b) Crypto-Currencies.--The Secretary of the Treasury, acting 
through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and the Comptroller 
of the Currency shall be the primary Government agencies with the 
authority to regulate crypto-currencies (other than synthetic 
stablecoins).
    (c) Crypto-Securities.--The Securities and Exchange Commission 
shall be the primary Government agency with the authority to regulate 
crypto-securities and synthetic stablecoins.

SEC. 4. REGISTRATION AND PUBLIC LISTS OF DIGITAL ASSET EXCHANGES.

    (a) Crypto-Commodities.--The Commodity Futures Trading Commission 
shall require any exchange trading in crypto-commodities to register 
with the Commission, and shall maintain a public list of all such 
exchanges.
    (b) Crypto-Currencies.--The Secretary of the Treasury, acting 
through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, shall require any 
exchange trading in crypto-currencies (other than synthetic 
stablecoins) to register with the Secretary, and shall maintain a 
public list of all such exchanges.
    (c) Crypto-Securities.--The Securities and Exchange Commission 
shall maintain a public list of all registered national securities 
exchanges trading in crypto-securities or synthetic stablecoins.

SEC. 5. AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC ON REQUIREMENTS TO 
              CREATE OR TRADE IN DIGITAL ASSETS.

    Each primary Federal digital asset regulator shall, with respect to 
digital assets over which it is the primary Federal digital asset 
regulator, make available to the public (and keep current) a list of 
all Federal licenses, certifications, or registrations required to 
create or trade in digital assets.

SEC. 6. REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO CRYPTO-CURRENCIES.

    (a) Tracing of Transactions.--Notwithstanding section 3(c), the 
Secretary of the Treasury, acting through the Financial Crimes 
Enforcement Network, shall issue rules to require each crypto-currency 
(including synthetic stablecoins) to allow for the tracing of 
transactions in the crypto-currency and persons engaging in such 
transactions in a manner similar to that required of financial 
institutions with respect to currency transactions under subchapter II 
of chapter 53 of title 31, United States Code.
    (b) Reserve-Backed Stablecoin Audits.--The Secretary of the 
Treasury, acting through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, 
shall carry out audits of each reserve-backed stablecoin to ensure that 
such stablecoin is fully backed by currency issued by the United States 
or a foreign government.
    (c) Transition Rule for Stablecoins.--If an event (including a 
dilution event, technical hack, or concerted choice) causes a reserve-
backed stablecoin to become a synthetic stablecoin or for a synthetic 
stable to become a reserve-backed stablecoin, the primary Federal 
digital asset regulator of the stablecoin shall notify the issuer of 
the stablecoin and the public of such transition.
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