US senators Lummis, Gillibrand reveal working on bipartisan crypto legislation

United States Senator from New York Kirsten Gillibrand revealed working with Senator Cynthia Lummis on a broad-based regulatory framework for the crypto industry on Thursday during a live event in Washington, D.C. 

As Gillibrand specified, she and Lummis are undertaking “a very complex and intensive review” of different aspects of the industry, with a future regulatory task-sharing in mind. The framework will see both the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) get their share of a regulatory mandate.

Speaking of her and Lummis’ motivations for taking up the initiative, Gillibrand said:

“Many of the goals that Sen. Lummis and I have are identical — we want to address things like safety and soundness, we want to address consumer protection, we want to address certainty for markets.”

The symbolic importance of the Lummis-Gillibrand initiative is hard to overstate. In recent months, digital assets have been increasingly politicized, with some observers fearing that it could eventually become a divisive partisan issue.

Related: Democrat division over crypto isn’t all bad news for regulation

Senator Lummis gained a reputation as a staunch advocate of financial innovation, while Senator Gillibrand has largely refrained from articulating her stances on digital currencies until recently.

Back in December 2021, Lummis announced the introduction of a crypto bill that would provide regulatory clarity on stablecoins, offer consumer protection and categorize different digital assets. Along with the announcement, she issued a call for bipartisan cosponsors, which, as can be told now, has caught the attention of Senator Gillibrand. 

The bipartisan legislative push comes weeks after U.S. President Joe Biden signed his executive order on digital assets, directing a number of federal agencies to produce a series of reports on digital assets.