Congressman Emmer introduces bill providing ‘safe harbor’ to miners, developers and wallets

Congressmen Tom Emmer and Darren Soto introduced The March 23 bipartisan bill is called the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act to establish clarity in the cryptocurrency industry.

Emer is co-chairing the Congress Blockchain Caucus alongside Soto. In his announcement, he said:

“Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology inherently do not easily fit into the frameworks that policymakers have considered in the past when creating regulations. We’ve packed the chain ecosystem into a statutory definition that doesn’t make sense.”

A “safe harbor” for non-controlled companies

Under Emmer’s bill, only entities that manage consumer funds should be considered senders. According to Emer:

“It’s simple. If you don’t store consumer funds, you’re not a sender.”

As such, miners, validators, and crypto wallet software providers do not have direct control over consumer crypto and do not need to apply for licenses or be subject to regulatory requirements.

The bill would move blockchain developers, miners, validators, and non-custodial wallet software providers from legal “safe harbors” away from the stringent regulations imposed on entities that manage consumer funds like exchanges. I am proposing to give

Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act

based on parliament recordthe bill was first introduced in 2018.

Its primary purpose is to establish that certain blockchain developers and certain blockchain service providers should be exempt from the stringent licensing and regulatory reporting requirements imposed on money transfer providers.

A lack of interest after the 2017 market crash has previously prevented it from gaining attention at home.

However, there has since been a significant resurgence of political interest in the blockchain space. And with the bear market nearing its end, politicians and regulators are scrambling to set the rules.