Senate Republicans’ new crypto bill text adds new ethics language

WASHINGTON, Sept 14 (Reuters) – U.S. Senate Republicans released a revised draft of major cryptocurrency legislation on Monday that includes new ethics language approved by President Donald Trump, senators said in a statement. 

Here are the details:  

• The final text of the Clarity Act includes new ethics language which reflects conflict of interest rules put forth by Senators Thom Tillis, a Republican, and Democrat Ruben Gallego, according to the statement from Senators Cynthia Lummis, John Boozman and Tim Scott.

• “President Trump voluntarily agreed to unprecedented ethics restrictions, holding every federally elected official, judge, and their spouses to some of the toughest ethics restrictions in U.S. history,” Lummis said.

• The crypto ​industry has spent hundreds of millions of dollars campaigning to advance the Clarity Act, which it says will put crypto companies on a solid legal footing. The Senate scheduled a procedural vote ‌on Tuesday that could determine the fate of the bill.

• The new draft protects consumers with new guardrails on affiliate trading, clarifies the applicability of state consumer protection laws and protects software developers, the Republican senators said.

• Democrats and some Republicans had previously warned that the bill has insufficient safeguards and could destabilize the banking system. The crypto industry and the banking sector mounted a final lobbying blitz in senators’ home states ahead of a vote on the bill next week.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Andrea Ricci)