On Wednesday, Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) discovered a shocking option to develop her upcoming cryptocurrency regulation bill: she put it on GitHub.
“As promised, you can now contribute comments on my bill establishing a framework for digital assets with [Sen. Gillibrand],” Lummis wrote in a tweet sharing the news. “Civil comments and criticisms welcome. Please share widely. We want to get this right. Help us iterate publicly on policy.”
Best referred to as a repository for open-source code, GitHub consists of a lot of instruments for that could possibly be helpful in creating public proposals — notably the power to publicly remark on, revise, and fork the textual content into totally different variations.
As of press time, Github customers have commented on 24 points within the bill and made eight pull requests – a few of which have proposed significant additions to the bill. One user requested the senators to “increase the value of proof-of-work cryptocurrencies with a tax on mining.” Another thread raised considerations about algorithmic backing of stablecoins.
However, the extra frequent response has been trolling. One flagged issue is titled, “You Know You Can Find Someone To Do Findom Using Google, Right.” Another is titled solely with the eggplant emoji.
In a associated thread, a person commented, “Feds are not looking post floppa,” accompanied by an image of a popular Russian caracal who has gained an web following underneath the identify “Big Floppa.”
The trolling additionally extends to commit requests, the place one person proposed changing the bill with the supply code of the favored first-person shooter Doom. “This bill would do far more to benefit everyday Americans if its text was replaced with the source code of Doom,” reads a remark responding to the request. “Devs should merge asap.”
Introduced earlier this month by Lummis and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), the Responsible Financial Innovation Act would create a framework for regulators to find out whether or not a sure digital asset needs to be thought of a commodity or safety whereas implementing new stablecoin provisions. Notably, the bill would put a lot of the regulatory authority over cryptocurrency within the fingers of the Commodities Future Trading Authority (CFTC), considerably increasing the company’s price range and authority.
The bill remains to be in its early phases, and would should be authorised by a number of Senate committees earlier than it may see a full flooring vote and move into regulation. Nonetheless, it’s one in every of Congress’s most complete makes an attempt up to now to carry regulatory readability to the controversial and sometimes complicated world of cryptocurrency.
“Digital assets, blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies have experienced tremendous growth in the past few years and offer substantial potential benefits if harnessed correctly,” Gillibrand stated in a June 7th statement. “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.”
