Congressman Darren Soto and Ted Budd presented two bills last week in the aim to help preventing price manipulation in cryptocurrencies and make the U.S. the leader country in cryptocurrencies as a great potential for the economy. In a statement released yesterday they stated:
“Virtual currencies and the underlying blockchain technology has a profound potential to be a driver of economic growth. That’s why we must ensure that the United States is at the forefront of protecting consumers and the financial well-being of virtual currency investors, while also promoting an environment of innovation to maximize the potential of these technological advances. This bill will provide data on how Congress can best mitigate these risks while propelling development that benefits our economy. ”
The first bill starts making research on how cryptocurrencies price manipulation happens and makes recommendations to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and other regulators to improve procedures that prevent price manipulation. The first full bill text can be found here.
The New York Office of the Attorney General released a report about cryptocurrency platforms and how vulnerable are they to price manipulation. Although many of those trading exchanges pushed back that claim, the report stated:
“The industry has yet to implement serious market surveillance capacities, akin to those of traditional trading venues, to detect and punish suspicious trading activity,”
The second bill makes recommendations for regulatory changes in order to promote U.S competitiveness in the sector, providing clarity and incentivizing the innovation. For example, CFTC should clarify which cryptocurrencies qualify as commodities. The second full bill text can be found here.
Several U.S. representatives have been introducing crypto related bills since 2014, Congressman Steve Stockman introduced a bill to tas Bitcoin as currency instead of propriety.