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House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry, R-NC, Rep. Mike Flood, R-NE, and Rep. French Hill, R-AR want the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to reopen the comment period on a proposed rule.<\/p>\n
The lawmakers are concerned that the rule, dubbed \u201cDefining Larger Participants of a Market for General-Use Digital Consumer Payment Applications\u201d \u2014 which seeks to demarcate the market for consumer payment applications \u2014 fails to understand potential harm to consumers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAs written, the proposed rule does not adequately justify the need to substantially expand the Bureau\u2019s regulatory scope into the payments industry,\u201d the letter said<\/a>.<\/p>\n Specifically, the rule as it stands has an unclear impact on digital assets, according to the lawmakers.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOn one hand, the proposed rule explicitly states that fiat-to-crypto and crypto-to-crypto transactions conducted on an exchange would not be covered. However, it remains unclear if this exclusion would exempt digital asset exchanges entirely, or only in instances where they offer services limited to the conversion of fiat-to-crypto and crypto-to-crypto transactions,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n Read more<\/strong>: Treasury\u2019s Wally Adeyemo: My agency needs more power to regulate crypto\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n The letter continued, \u201cthe Bureau\u2019s approach creates more regulatory uncertainty that could undermine the digital asset industry\u2019s functionality with respect to digital asset transactions.\u201d<\/p>\n Due to the lack of clarity, the lawmakers are asking the CFPB to reopen the comment period and extend it for 60 days.\u00a0<\/p>\n The rule<\/a> on digital consumer payment applications was first proposed back in November.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hill, McHenry and Flood believe that the rule as it stands \u201cdoes not adequately justify the need to substantially expand the Bureau\u2019s regulatory scope into the payments industry.\u201d They believe it would also introduce \u201cmore regulatory uncertainty into the payment industry,\u201d in particular with digital assets.\u00a0<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong> The US Supreme Court could reshape the SEC\u2019s powers \u2014 and how the agency approaches crypto<\/a><\/p>\n Regulation in crypto is a highly discussed issue, especially concerning the Securities and Exchange Commission\u2019s approach to crypto. The SEC has been accused of regulation through enforcement<\/a> following lawsuits against Binance<\/a> and Coinbase last year<\/a>. In 2023, the SEC brought 46 crypto-related suits.<\/a><\/p>\n Other agencies, such as the Internal Revenue Service, are mulling rules on crypto reporting requirements<\/a>.<\/p>\n Additionally, lawmakers in DC are currently considering a few crypto-related bills<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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