Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act
Sponsored By: Senator John Boozman
In Committee
Summary
Creates a new, comprehensive federal framework to regulate digital commodities and the platforms and intermediaries that trade them. It defines key terms like digital commodity and custody, requires registration for exchanges, brokers, dealers, and custodians, and sets strong rules for custody, market surveillance, disclosures, and conflict-of-interest safeguards.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
7 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 2 costs, 2 mixed.
New fees and $150M startup funding
If enacted, the Commission would be allowed to charge initial application and annual registration fees to digital commodity exchanges, brokers, dealers, and qualified custodians to cover oversight costs. The Commission must set rates based on business volume and registration category, publish rates on a set schedule, and may not require per-transaction fees charged directly to customers. The bill would authorize $150 million to be available until the Commission begins collecting the new fees.
Stronger customer custody protections
If enacted, customer money and digital assets held by exchanges, brokers, or dealers would have to be kept separate and treated as belonging to the customer. Digital-asset units would generally have to be held with qualified digital asset custodians and customer funds could be invested only in high-quality liquid assets the Commission allows. The bill would make it illegal for firms to use or dispose of customer assets as their own and would treat customer property as protected in bankruptcy. Firms could use customer-owned assets for blockchain services only with a customer's written permission and clear disclosures.
Protections for blockchain developers
If enacted, the bill would say that people who only perform certain blockchain software-developer activities are not subject to the Act just because of those activities. Covered work includes running nodes, relaying or compiling transactions, offering UIs or wallet software, administering DeFi messaging or trading protocols, and similar technical services. The Commission would still be able to enforce anti-fraud and anti-manipulation rules.
Exemptions and stablecoin limits
If enacted, the Commission could exempt brokers or dealers from some rules when doing so is in the public interest or when firms have comparable home-country supervision. The bill would allow a two-year transitional exemption for some foreign exchanges that meet inspection and supervision conditions. It would also limit CFTC authority over permitted payment stablecoins so the CFTC only regulates spot trades in those coins when trades occur on registered entities, and the CFTC could not make rules about how a stablecoin issuer operates.
New federal rules for digital markets
If enacted, trading platforms that offer spot digital-commodity markets would have to register with the CFTC as digital commodity exchanges and meet new definitions and operational rules. The bill would define which tokens and intermediaries are covered and set standards for brokers, dealers, and exchanges, including chief compliance officers, audit trails, and listing rules. It would require joint CFTC–SEC rulemaking on delisting within 180 days, portfolio-margining rules within 360 days, and conflicts-of-interest rules within 18 months. Several technical changes would add digital-commodity sale contracts into the Commodity Exchange Act and update margining references so rulemaking and implementation follow the law's timetable.
CFTC staffing and retail advocate office
If enacted, the bill would let the CFTC hire specialized staff faster using expedited appointment authority for digital-commodity roles. It would create an Office of the Digital Commodity Retail Advocate reporting to the Commission Chair to assist retail customers and issue annual reports to Congress. The Advocate must appoint an ombudsman within 180 days. The Commission would also be required to study customer demographics and provide education and outreach within 180 days, and to consult with foreign regulators and get confidentiality agreements before sharing exchange records.
Registration rules for individual workers
If enacted, a person could not act as an associated person of a digital commodity broker or dealer unless they are registered with the Commission and the registration is current. Firms could not knowingly let unregistered or invalidly registered people act as associated persons. Registration must remain active and not be suspended or revoked.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
John Boozman
AR • R
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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