Democrats Implement Counter-Measure to Restrict DeFi Protocols


0

Unlock the Secrets of Ethical Hacking!
Ready to dive into the world of offensive security? This course gives you the Black Hat hacker’s perspective, teaching you attack techniques to defend against malicious activity. Learn to hack Android and Windows systems, create undetectable malware and ransomware, and even master spoofing techniques. Start your first hack in just one hour!
Enroll now and gain industry-standard knowledge: Enroll Now!

Despite previously supporting a crypto market structure bill, several Democratic Senators have reportedly introduced a counter-proposal that could see decentralized finance protocols placed on a “restricted list” if deemed too risky.

This move, among others, it proposed could “kill DeFi,” according to its critics.

The Senate Banking Committee Democrats sent a proposal to the committee’s Republicans on Thursday seeking to impose Know Your Customer rules on the frontends of crypto apps — including non-custodial wallets — and stripping protections from crypto developers, several industry commentators said on Thursday, citing a report from Punchbowl News.

Among those commentators was crypto lawyer Jake Chervinsky, who said the counter-proposal could kill any chance of establishing a crypto market structure framework, noting that it could undermine the bipartisan support the CLARITY Act had already secured in the House in July, where it passed 294-134. 

“It’s so bad. It doesn’t regulate crypto, it bans crypto,” Chervinsky said, pointing to a suggested measure permitting the Treasury Department to create a “restricted list” for DeFi protocols it considers are too risky, making it a crime for anyone who uses them.

Chervinsky added: “This proposal is less a regulatory framework and more an unprecedented, unconstitutional government takeover of an entire industry. It’s not just anti-crypto, it’s anti-innovation, and a dangerous precedent for the entire tech sector.”

Source: Jake Chervinsky

The Democrats behind the counter-proposal include Mark Warner, Ruben Gallego, Andy Kim, Reverend Raphael Warnock, Angela Alsobrooks, and Lisa Blunt Rochester, according to Chervinsky. 

The move, which comes amid a government shutdown, could be seen as reversing regulatory momentum built under the Trump administration, which has pledged to make the United States the “crypto capital of the world.”

Counter-proposal undermines bipartisan RFIA draft

It also clashes with aspects of the Senate Banking Committee’s Responsible Financial Innovation Act draft on Sept. 9, a bipartisan effort that seeks to assign the Commodity Futures Trading Commission oversight of spot markets and reduce the Securities and Exchange Commission’s overreach.