Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis and Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden introduced a bill that clarifies that software developers who do not control users' funds are not considered money transmitters — as senators quickly work on prepping a broader cryptocurrency bill.
Lummis and Wyden's Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act was introduced on Monday and mirrors work done in the House. The bill would create clear guardrails for when developers and service providers would be exempt from money transmitting laws.
"Forcing developers who write code to follow the same rules as exchanges or brokers is technologically illiterate and a recipe for violating Americans’ privacy and free speech rights," Wyden said in a statement.
The Senate bill is likely to be included in the current version of the Senate Banking Committee's crypto market structure legislation, a person familiar with the matter told The Block. The Senate Banking Committee, on which Wyden and Lummis are both members, has been barreling towards a hearing on Thursday to amend and vote on sweeping legislation to regulate the crypto industry at large. Text of the broader bill is expected to be released early this week.
The Senate Agriculture Committee was also slated to hold a hearing on Thursday to mark up its broader crypto market structure bill, but that's since been delayed to later this month, according to reporting from Punchbowl News on Monday.
Senators, the crypto industry, and the banking sector have been negotiating issues, such as how to treat stablecoin yield and addressing President Donald Trump's conflicts of interest in several of his family's crypto ventures. The role of decentralized finance has also emerged as a key point of discussion. Representatives from the DeFi Education Fund and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association met with Banking Committee members last week to advocate for protections for software developers and self-custody, a source familiar said.
The DeFi Education Fund said the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act is vital, in a statement on Monday.
"The BRCA must be included in market structure legislation, and we encourage all Congressional leaders to join Senators Lummis and Wyden in prioritizing clarity and protections for software developers building our financial future," the organization said in a post on X.
