On September 15, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said she was ready to help draft a new bill regulating the cryptocurrency market. Her comments came as the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act, underscoring the need for further negotiations if Congress is to pass federal crypto legislation.

Asked whether she would take a leading role in cryptocurrency legislation if she were to chair the Senate Banking Committee in the future, Warren said she would, according to The Block.

“I would be happy to sit down at the negotiating table with other Democrats, Republicans, and industry representatives and craft a substantive crypto law that protects our national security and our economy, and reduces corruption risks,” Warren said.

Warren said an agreement was possible but that Republicans would need to compromise on disputed provisions connected to U.S. President Donald Trump.

She said she generally supported enacting federal cryptocurrency legislation. The Block quoted Warren as saying the CLARITY Act represented one of the first opportunities to create meaningful regulation for the industry, but that its current form lacked necessary safeguards covering ethics, national security and illicit finance.

Warren’s objections to the CLARITY Act

Warren also published a Senate floor speech on September 15 detailing her opposition to the current version of the CLARITY Act. She focused primarily on its ethics provisions and the potential conflict of interest involving the president.

Warren said the proposed restrictions lacked an effective enforcement mechanism against the president. She criticized a provision that would leave decisions about applying the rules to federal executive branch agencies.

She also opposed allowing officials to receive exemptions from the restrictions through an opinion issued by the Office of Government Ethics.

“An ethical restriction that the president himself can effectively waive is not an ethical restriction,” Warren said.

Warren also argued that a provision allowing assets to be transferred into a blind trust would not fully eliminate a potential conflict of interest.

Her speech further criticized provisions addressing illicit finance, state authority and banks’ digital-asset activities.

“We need cryptocurrency regulation. Yes, we do,” Warren said.

She urged Republicans to return to negotiations and draft a “truly bipartisan crypto bill.”

Senate vote falls short

The Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act on September 15. Forty-nine senators voted to end debate and proceed with further consideration of the measure, while 50 voted against doing so. The motion required 60 votes.

Bitcoin briefly fell below $75,000 around the vote.

Source: Incrypted