US lawmakers propose new rules for crypto regulation

Key members of the House of Representatives have introduced a draft bill aimed at establishing a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies in the US.

The 212-page proposal, released on May 5, 2025, outlines how digital assets will be classified and regulated.

The bill sets criteria for classifying digital assets under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) or the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including rules for reclassification.

Additionally, the bill distinguishes payment stablecoins from existing categories.

It introduces regulations for exchanges and secondary trading markets, which will be subject to the Bank Secrecy Act.

Issuers of new assets must disclose details to regulators, while developers and infrastructure providers gain exemptions.

The bill’s supporters say clear rules will balance innovation and investor protection, reflecting crypto industry demands.

🔗 Source: Axios

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ U.S. crypto regulation has been a fragmented patchwork for over a decade

The newly proposed legislation addresses a regulatory uncertainty that has plagued the crypto industry since at least 2011, when FinCEN first updated its definition of money service businesses to include virtual currencies 1.

This fragmented approach has involved multiple agencies applying existing frameworks to crypto without clear jurisdictional boundaries, such as the SEC viewing many tokens as securities, the CFTC treating Bitcoin as a commodity, and FinCEN regulating exchanges as money transmitters 1.

The lack of comprehensive federal guidance has forced states to develop their own regulations, with New York’s BitLicense and Wyoming’s crypto-friendly laws creating an inconsistent nationwide landscape 2.

This regulatory uncertainty has had real consequences, including $700,000 in fines against Ripple in 2015 and $110 million against BTC-e in 2017 for failing to properly register with FinCEN 1.

The bipartisan effort to create clear categories of digital assets and establish regulatory pathways represents the most comprehensive attempt to date to address the regulatory gap that has existed since Bitcoin’s creation in 2009.