Only 11 of Elizabeth Warren’s 330 bills passed
Senator Elizabeth Warren's Crypto Anti-Money Laundering Act is gaining momentum in the crypto industry. But some have pointed out that the senator has a history of bills going nowhere.
According to data from the bill-tracking platform GovTrack, Warren has introduced 330 bills during her 11 years as a senator. Ten of them were eventually folded into other bills and only one very obscure bill came out as such.
This was the National POW/MIA Flag Act, which mandated that the POW/Missing in Action flag be displayed along with the United States flag on certain federal property.
If Trump signs the bill on the table, the POW/MIA flag would be required to be flown along with the US flag on some buildings pic.twitter.com/vgtlLteOM8
— US Military News (@AmerMilNews) October 24, 2019
“Very few bills have ever been passed — only a handful have been signed into law by most lawmakers,” GovTrack notes. Oftentimes, members of Congress take on actions such as passing legislative amendments and working on committees that receive little attention from the public.
The Warren Digital Assets Anti-Money Laundering Act, which was revised in July, aims to close loopholes in the country's money laundering laws by regulating various crypto applications — including illegal wallets — and organizations that are regulated under the Bank Secrecy Act.
Similar rules should apply to similar transactions with similar risks. So my new, bipartisan Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act would make the crypto industry follow the same anti-money laundering standards as banks, brokers and Western Union.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) December 29, 2022
So far, the bill has received bipartisan support, and an additional five senators from Warren's Democratic Party have agreed to support the bill on December 11.
Bill ‘effectively bans' Bitcoin – Head of Galaxy Research
Still, opponents of the bill warn that it will stifle crypto in the US
Alex Thorne, head of firm-wide research at Galaxy Research, said in a December 11 Twitter post that the bill would be an “effective ban” on Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto.
Tor pointed to clauses that would extend know-your-customer (KYC) requirements to crypto wallet providers, miners and validators, saying such decentralized software “can't effectively perform centralized compliance functions.”
Non-custodial open source software is needed to achieve bank-like compliance *The biggest attack* Bitcoin's enemies have always threatened. For bitcoin core, for example, it's impossible to comply with this, so it's effectively a bitcoin ban in the US.
— Alex Thorn (@intangiblecoins) December 11, 2023
“The Warren bill would effectively ban crypto in the U.S.,” Thorne added.
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Neeraj Agrawal, director of communications at the crypto think tank Coin Center, posted on X that the bill is “a direct attack on technological progress” and personal privacy.
Agrawal said the bill, which was proposed as a solution to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing, was a rejection of liberal values.
Digital asset anti-counterfeiting legislation is a direct attack on technological progress, as well as a direct attack on personal privacy and autonomy.
Make no mistake, while it's proposed as a solution to counterfeiting and terrorist financing, the bill actually… pic.twitter.com/8oID1wECGL
— Neeraj K. Agrawal (@NeerajKA) December 11, 2023
“The bill cannot be amended,” he added. “It's just a complete rejection.”
Magazine: Legislators' fear and skepticism fuel proposed crypto regulations in the US.
