US Senator Bill Hagerty, who’s also a member of the Senate Banking Committee, introduced a bill that would safeguard crypto exchanges from the SEC. Titled the Digital Trading Clarity Act of 2022, it offers better regulatory clarity on the two major concerns surrounding crypto exchanges. The first issue involves classifying digital assets, while the second covers other related liabilities under current securities regulations.

Senator Hagerty summarized current problems due to regulatory obstacles. In his opinion, the existing lack of regulatory clarity surrounding digital assets leaves businesses and entrepreneurs to make a tough choice. Either ride out the storm of regulatory ambiguity in the US or transfer operations overseas, whether markets have clearer regulations on digital assets.

He points out that this uncertainty prevents crypto investments and stifles the opportunity to create more jobs in the country. Consequently, it has a negative influence on the US’s leadership regarding current technology.

Further Explaining his Stance

Hagerty goes on to explain that once the legislation is passed, it would provide crypto businesses with a sense of certainty. At the same time, it would increase the S crypto markets’ growth and liquidity. However, the bill still has a long way to go, as approved by the House, the Senate, and the US President.

Alongside the senate’s efforts to bring in regulatory reform, the federal government is looking into the viability of central bank digital currencies in the US market. Under the Biden Administration, the OSTP, Office of Science and Technology Policy, evaluated 18 CBDC design options, explaining each system’s merits and demerits. The office supervises practical limitations and technicalities when forming a permissionless system that’s overseen by a central bank.

The New Crypto Analysis

This analysis was conducted across six categories, namely governance, participants, transactions, security, adjustments, and data. They stated that it’s likely for the underlying technology of a permission-less approach to advance over time. This will make it suited for implementation in a CBDC framework. But according to their analysis, the CBDC system has a permission approach.

To assist policymakers in deciding on the right system, the OSTP report discussed the implications of adding third parties as two choices in the category for ‘participants.’

OSTP Encourages Lawmakers

In addition, the OSTP is encouraging lawmakers to consider concepts like transaction privacy, cryptography, and data model and ledger history. The technical analysis for a CBDC system in the US showed how the report favors an off-ledger, hardware-protected framework.  Once the USD CBDC launches, the report will cover the compromises policymakers made when saying ‘yes’ to the final design options.

At the start of the month, the office emphasized regulation when discussing crypto’s environmental impact in the US. The report mentions that crypto coins use about 50 billion kW-hours of energy every year in the US. This is 38 percent of the worldwide total, prompting them to draw comparisons between crypto and credit card companies.