Original Mayer Brown content, perspectives and insights from across our global platform that touch on digital assets, decentralized finance, cryptocurrencies and related fields.
First Bipartisan Proposal for US Digital Asset Regulation Previewed
On March 24, 2022, Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) announced that they are working together on legislation to establish a framework for US digital asset regulation. They said they plan to introduce the legislation in the coming weeks. The proposal is notable in that it would be the first piece of bipartisan legislation for regulating digital assets introduced in the US Senate.
EU Regulation of Crypto-Assets (MiCA): EU Parliament Publishes Report and Votes on “Proof of Work” in the Context of Sustainability
On March 23, 2022, the European Parliament published the text of a report adopted on March 14, 2022 by its Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) on the European Commission’s proposal regarding the Markets in Crypto-assets Regulation (MiCA). The draft MiCA included three main principles: a uniform legal framework within the EU for crypto-assets, consumer protection and safeguards against illegal activity, and application of EU taxonomy for sustainable activities to crypto-assets mining.
US Government Requests Information on Energy and Climate Implications of Digital Assets
On March 25, 2022, the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (“OSTP”) published a request for information on the energy and climate implications of digital assets (the “RFI”). The RFI is part of President Biden’s recent executive order on digital assets and will form part of a report that OSTP will issue on the potential for digital assets to impede or advance efforts to tackle climate change and the transition to a clean and reliable electricity grid.