US Senators Ask GitHub Users for Input on Crypto Legislation

Two U.S. senators are seeking feedback on a new bipartisan crypto legislation, and they are using Microsoft-owned GitHub to reach the masses.

Wyoming Republican Cynthia Lummis and New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, posted the legislation on GitHub, a software development and version control platform, on Tuesday. As of Thursday 9:24 a.m. New York time there were no comments. The duo introduced the bill, which aims to regulate digital assets, on June 7.

“From the get go, we wanted input from the people who live and work in this space every day. No one knows more about digital assets than the ones who mine, stake, and trade them,” Lummis said in an email to Bloomberg on June 22. “After talking to some of these folks, they suggested that GitHub was the place to solicit that feedback.”

The bipartisan bill, titled Lummis-Gillibrand Responsible Financial Innovation Act (S. 4356), calls for a set of standards to determine if a digital asset is a commodity or security and other stablecoin provisions. The legislation also wants to task the Commodity Futures Trading Commission with more authority to regulate coins.

“Digital assets, blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies have experienced tremendous growth in the past few years and offer substantial potential benefits if harnessed correctly,” Gillibrand said in a June 7 press release. “It is critical that the United States play a leading role in developing policy to regulate new financial products, while also encouraging innovation and protecting consumers.”

Several Senate committees would have to consider the bill for it to move through Congress.

“We’re going to collect the comments then take a look at the suggestions and piece together how they could fit into the broader legislation,” Lummis said via email. “I anticipate that we will incorporate some of this feedback into the bill.”

GitHub allows users to collaborate on software projects by letting them code separately on one project. More than 83 million developers utilize the platform, according to the company’s website.

Immanual John Milton reports for Bloomberg News.

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