Two US Senators Want to Update a 2015 Cybersec Bill to Include Crypto

Two Republican Senators brought a proposal before the US Senate to amend the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 to include crypto. Allegedly, the altered bill would bear the name Cryptocurrency Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act and could help companies crack down on bad practices within the industry.

US Senators Propose Amendments to a 2015 Cybersec Bill

Senators Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee and Cynthia Lummis from Wyoming filed a proposal to alter a cybersecurity bill from 2015. According to the Senators, the changes would help crypto companies report crime and other violations within their sector, and work more closely with law enforcement.

Blackburn stated that “some bad actors have used cryptocurrency as a way to hide their illegal practices and avoid accountability,” and added that the update to the bill could provide companies a way to voluntarily disclose such abuse to authorities. This could help prevent the misuse of crypto in the future.

This proposal is the newest step in the ongoing struggle to expand and upgrade crypto regulation. An initiative partly stemming from incidents like the Terra LUNA collapse and reinforced by the danger posed by crypto-related crime. According to a recent FBI report, around $1.3 billion was stolen in Q1 2022 in crypto hacks alone.

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Global Efforts to Regulate Crypto in 2022

The increase in regulator and law enforcement activity with regard to digital assets is visible throughout the world. For example, South Korean authorities issued an arrest warrant for Do Kwon, the man behind LUNA, earlier this month. They made the manhunt global when it got Interpol to join the search.

On Wednesday, the same day the proposed amendments for the 2015 bill were made public, India froze $1.5 million in Bitcoin due to an ongoing case involving a gaming app, E-Nuggets. The US has also seen a major increase in crypto-related enforcement both at the Federal, and State levels.

Additionally, there is some rivalry between agencies in the US. Both the SEC and the CFTC have been attempting to become the main digital assets regulator with the Securities and Exchange Commission so far being in the spotlight. Earlier in September, CFTC requested its authority be expanded and appeared to double down on the effort as a recent speech by its commissioner made crypto-related legislation its main focus.

Crypto companies made themselves active in the matter as well. Coinbase is a firm that is actively trying to bring about more crypto-friendly policies. Two weeks ago, the company announced it would score politicians based on their stance on digital assets.

Perhaps it isn’t surprising that Cynthia Lummis, one of the Senators responsible for the proposal to the 2015 bill, is currently graded with an A by Coinbase seeing that she has so far been fairly crypto-friendly and expressed particular admiration for Bitcoin in a recent interview.

Do you think that enabling crypto companies voluntarily report misuse within the sector could help prevent digital assets-related crime? Let us know in the comments below.