CoinCenter and other crypto advocacy groups have criticized a Senate bill that would impose strict rules on individuals involved in decentralized finance (DeFi).
The bill in question is titled the Crypto-Asset National Security Enhancement and Enforcement Act (CANSEE). If legislated, DeFi platform operators and key stakeholders would be held accountable for illegal use of their platforms.
That bipartisan bill was introduced on July 19 by Democratic Senators Jack Reed and Mark Warner and Republican Senators Mike Rounds and Mitt Romney.
Now, CoinCenter and its executive director Jerry Brito have criticized the proposal as “messy, arbitrary and unconstitutional” in a July 20 statement.
CoinCenter warned that the bill would extend sanctions and Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) obligations to individual developers. It added that the Treasury Secretary would have full authority to decide who is in control of any given protocol and said proposed exemptions would not solve this problem. It also described possible overreach, such as possible enforcement against those who publish books containing code.
CoinCenter acknowledged the government’s desire to prosecute individuals involved in money laundering, but further described the bill as a “broad prohibition”, “unconstitutional” and “overbroad” due to a content-based approach that arguably limits free speech.
Other groups have also commented
The Blockchain Association, meanwhile, published its own response to the CANSEE bill July 19. The advocacy group and its CEO, Kristin Smith, claimed that illicit transactions accounted for just 0.24% of all crypto transactions by 2022 and argued that authorities currently have sufficient powers to enforce the law.
The group otherwise called the bill “unworkable” and “simply incompatible with digital asset technology.” It said it supports other efforts that could prevent illegal activity, including amendments to a national defense law that would specifically target crypto.
Elsewhere, Natalie Smolenski, senior fellow for the BTC Policy Institute, has mention: “They are now trying to ban decentralization.”
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