Cynthia Lummis’ crypto bill won’t address NFTs or environmental concerns

• Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis has said the bill she’s preparing intends to regulate cryptocurrencies in the same categories as traditional assets
• She said NFTs are hard to categorise, hence will not be covered in the coming bill

Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis has revealed more details about the planned pro-crypto regulatory framework that she is expected to table in collaboration with New York Democrat Senator Kristin Gillibrand. 

Speaking to Axios in an interview published earlier this week, the US senator explained that the coming bill would regulate from an angle such that digital assets fall under the same categories in which traditional assets are regulated. Lummis explained that the bill would see the regulatory ‘wand’ split and shared between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CTFC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“We’ve designed it so it works within the customary framework for managing and regulating traditional assets. So, for example, Bitcoin is a commodity. So it would fall under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for purposes of trading and the spot market and the futures market. And then when something fits in the Howey Test, that makes it a security, it would fall under the Securities Exchange Commission.”

Pro-regulation, pro-innovation

The Republican Senator also disclosed that the proposed framework not be in the direction of throttling innovation but will feature a mandate of protecting users. Lummis set forth that she’s all for a framework where stakeholders can “understand the rules of the road but can still innovate.” 

She added that the current lawless state of matters in the crypto industry has been the reason why watchdogs, including the SEC, have been forced to reach decisions on the fly regarding matters with the regulation of crypto and the decentralised sector.

NFT are left out of the bill

The Wyoming Republican confirmed the bill wouldn’t cover non-fungible tokens (NFTs), saying “it’s so hard to figure out how to categorise them.”  However, she anticipates that regulators should help identify where to slot in these tokens as they become even more prevalent. The confusion comes from the fact that while NFTs can be traded, most are bought as rare pieces of art and therefore unfit to be regulated as utility tokens.

She also mentioned a central bank digital currency, though not delving into specifics. 

Towards the eventual tabling of the bill, Lummis held an optimistic belief it would quickly climb the legislative ladder as digital assets are nonpartisan.