US Banking Industry’s Lobby Group Helped Write Elizabeth Warren’s Anti-Crypto Bill, According to Senator

A prominent banking trade association is helping author Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act.

In a new announcement, Republican Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, who co-sponsors the bill with Warren, says the American Bankers Association (ABA) had a hand in shaping the potential crypto legislation, which aims to force the crypto industry to comply with the same regulations that apply to the traditional financial system.

“The first thing we did is we went to the American [Bankers] Association and said, ‘Help us craft this.'”

Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, first introduced the bill last year and then once again in July in hopes of extending Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) responsibilities – including Know-Your-Customer (KYC) requirements – to crypto wallet providers, miners, validators, and other network participants.

The act would also direct the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to require banks and money service businesses to verify customer and counterparty identities, keep records on and file reports about certain transactions involving self-custody wallets.

FinCEN is an agency at the U.S. Department of the Treasury that polices money laundering and terrorism financing.

Marshall calls the bill “a step in the right direction” and “a light touch.” Pro-crypto lobbying groups, however, have slammed the potential legislation, calling it unconstitutional and an effective ban on self-custody, staking and mining.

Brian Armstrong, the chief executive of top US crypto exchange Coinbase, says Warren and Marshall’s support for the bill represents “lobbying for the big banks.”

“Being anti-crypto is a really bad political strategy going into 2024:

• 52 million Americans have used crypto
• 38% of young people say crypto can increase economic opportunities
• Just 9% of Americans [are] satisfied with the current financial system
• Crypto prices up 90% YTD
• http://standwithcrypto.org on its way to 1 million advocates (voters) who want sensible crypto policies”

The bill is currently being considered by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

 

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