Efforts By Elizabeth Warren To Strengthen The SEC Crypto Bill

US Senator Elizabeth Warren rolled out a new SEC Crypto Bill on Thursday that would prevent cryptocurrency firms from doing business with groups that have been sanctioned.

Former Senator Elizabeth Warren, known for being anti-crypto, has been busy composing a bill that would give control of this new asset class to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

She stated:

This is a bill that would authorize the president to sanction foreign cryptocurrency firms that are doing business with sanctioned Russian entities and authorize the Secretary of Treasury to act, 

per the report, the presidential administration would identify any foreign person who operated crypto exchanges or facilitated digital assets transactions while supporting sanctions evasion by Russian individuals listed on the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s sanction list.

Moreover, unless there was a national security reason not to, the American president might impose sanctions on these exchange operators.

The U.S. Treasury Secretary can also order that crypto exchanges operating in the U.S. cannot provide services to, or exchange tokens with, individuals from Russia if this is found to be in the Nation’s best interest. This decision must be reported back to Congress.

The Secretary of the Treasury would also be responsible for identifying exchanges that could be vulnerable to sanctions evasion and reporting those entities to Congress.

SEC New Bill’s Terms & Conditions

The legislation covers more than merely Russian sanctions. Another clause would allow customers who deal with more than $10,000 in cryptocurrency to be identified by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

According to the bill:

Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network shall require United States persons engaged in a transaction with a value greater than $10,000 in digital assets through [one] or more accounts outside of the United States to file a report.

Warren announced the measure during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on how cryptocurrency may be used for criminal finance.

Also stated in the bill:

Any exchange included in the report may petition the Office of Foreign Assets Control for removal, which shall be granted upon demonstrating that the exchange is taking steps sufficient to comply with applicable United States law.

Additionally, the legislation aims to stop cryptocurrency firms from investing client money elsewhere. Banks actually operate in this manner.

Furthermore, the bill would go beyond the regulations put in place last year to enhance tax reporting obligations.

Under this new law, crypto assets will be classified as securities. As such, they’ll be regulated the same as company stocks which are subject to stricter regulations than other types of commodities.

Cryptocurrency assets would be classified as securities under such a bill. As a result, they would be subject to the same regulations as corporate stocks, which are subject to tighter rules than commodities.