Financial Services Committee Approves Keep Your Coins Bill 2023

TLDR

In a major win for personal rights, the US House Financial Services Committee approved a bill to end the unjust practice of seizing or restricting the use of cryptos in private wallets.

Tabled by Congressman Warren Davidson in February, the bill is seen by the crypto world and rights activists in the United States as a major step towards treating cryptocurrencies and their owners following regulations set by the federal government for fiat.

Keep Your Coins Act

While the Keep Your Coins Act 2023 was tabled as a bill in February, its history goes back much more.

Congressman Warren Davidson, the man behind the bill, had been working on it since 2016 to “end the unjust, immoral, and unconstitutional practice of civil asset forfeiture.”

The Congressman tweeted on the bill’s passing, talking about defending individual rights,

“Those attacking self-custody oppose individual freedom. They want someone they control to control your assets.”

Last night, the ⁦@FinancialCmte⁩ passed my bill to protect self-custody. Those attacking self-custody oppose individual freedom. They want someone they control to control your assets.

Defend Freedom.#KeepYourCoins https://t.co/MMUtosy6Qm

— Warren Davidson 🇺🇸 (@WarrenDavidson) July 28, 2023

According to the act, it prevents federal agencies from putting any restrictions on using virtual currencies by any individual – be it buying goods or services or any other purpose. The act also prohibits the agencies from creating any hurdles or restrictions to hold digital assets through private wallets or other wallets to execute the above-mentioned transactions.

Of course, the act also ensures that individuals have the right to do so as long as the transactions are “for any lawful purpose.”

Is US Legislation Finally Catching Up?

The US regulatory and legal aspects of cryptocurrencies are still lacking. With little to no clear guidance or framework, the crypto landscape had become the Wild West, with SEC cracking down on Ripple (XRP) and then later on several other cryptos.

The landmark decision by the US courts stating that XRP did not constitute unregistered security has had SEC beaten (for now), but this is seen as a step towards having legal and regulatory clarification on cryptos and, therefore, rights of investors, holders, and of course, the development teams.

With the addition of the Keep Your Coins Act 2023, the crypto industry in the United States is witnessing a conducive environment to work in.

Pro Crypto Congressman

Congressman Warren Davidson is no stranger to cryptocurrencies and has a history of being pro-crypto.

In the past, he introduced The Token Taxonomy Act 2021, which seeks to clarify that digital tokens are not securities if they are decentralized and not controlled by a single authority or entity.

The act also proposes integration into the regular US financial network, excluding taxes on cryptocurrencies for annual gains below $600.

With the latest addition of Keep Your Coins Act 2023, the US crypto sphere sees it as a significant victory. However, that act is what it states: an act. It still has to be ratified to become a law to be enforced.

---