| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 118THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 2 |
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| 4 | 4 | | DSESSION H. R. 9579 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To establish the Joint Advisory Committee on Digital Assets, and for other |
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| 6 | 6 | | purposes. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 8 | 8 | | SEPTEMBER12, 2024 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Mr. R |
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| 10 | 10 | | OSEintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee |
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| 11 | 11 | | on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, |
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| 12 | 12 | | for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case |
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| 13 | 13 | | for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the |
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| 14 | 14 | | committee concerned |
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| 15 | 15 | | A BILL |
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| 16 | 16 | | To establish the Joint Advisory Committee on Digital Assets, |
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| 17 | 17 | | and for other purposes. |
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| 18 | 18 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 19 | 19 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 20 | 20 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 21 | 21 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bridging Regulation 4 |
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| 22 | 22 | | and Innovation for Digital Global and Electronic Digital 5 |
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| 23 | 23 | | Assets Act’’ or the ‘‘BRIDGE Digital Assets Act’’. 6 |
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| 25 | 25 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 26 | 26 | | •HR 9579 IH |
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| 27 | 27 | | SEC. 2. CFTC-SEC JOINT ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON DIG-1 |
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| 28 | 28 | | ITAL ASSETS. 2 |
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| 29 | 29 | | (a) E |
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| 30 | 30 | | STABLISHMENT.—The Commodity Futures 3 |
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| 31 | 31 | | Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange 4 |
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| 32 | 32 | | Commission (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Commis-5 |
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| 33 | 33 | | sions’’) shall jointly establish the Joint Advisory Com-6 |
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| 34 | 34 | | mittee on Digital Assets (in this section referred to as the 7 |
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| 35 | 35 | | ‘‘Committee’’). 8 |
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| 36 | 36 | | (b) P |
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| 37 | 37 | | URPOSE.— 9 |
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| 38 | 38 | | (1) I |
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| 39 | 39 | | N GENERAL.—The Committee shall— 10 |
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| 40 | 40 | | (A) provide the Commissions with advice 11 |
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| 41 | 41 | | on the rules, regulations, and policies of the 12 |
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| 42 | 42 | | Commissions related to digital assets; 13 |
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| 43 | 43 | | (B) further the regulatory harmonization 14 |
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| 44 | 44 | | of digital asset policy between the Commissions; 15 |
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| 45 | 45 | | (C) examine and disseminate methods for 16 |
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| 46 | 46 | | describing, measuring, and quantifying digital 17 |
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| 47 | 47 | | asset— 18 |
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| 48 | 48 | | (i) decentralization; 19 |
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| 49 | 49 | | (ii) functionality; 20 |
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| 50 | 50 | | (iii) information asymmetries; and 21 |
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| 51 | 51 | | (iv) transaction and network security; 22 |
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| 52 | 52 | | and 23 |
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| 53 | 53 | | (D) examine the potential for digital as-24 |
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| 54 | 54 | | sets, blockchain systems, and distributed ledger 25 |
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| 55 | 55 | | technology to improve efficiency in the oper-26 |
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| 56 | 56 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:17 Sep 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9579.IH H9579 |
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| 57 | 57 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 58 | 58 | | •HR 9579 IH |
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| 59 | 59 | | ation of financial market infrastructure and 1 |
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| 60 | 60 | | better protect financial market participants, in-2 |
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| 61 | 61 | | cluding services and systems which provide— 3 |
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| 62 | 62 | | (i) improved customer protections; 4 |
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| 63 | 63 | | (ii) public availability of information; 5 |
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| 64 | 64 | | (iii) greater transparency regarding 6 |
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| 65 | 65 | | customer funds; 7 |
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| 66 | 66 | | (iv) reduced transaction cost; and 8 |
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| 67 | 67 | | (v) increased access to financial mar-9 |
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| 68 | 68 | | ket services. 10 |
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| 69 | 69 | | (2) R |
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| 70 | 70 | | EVIEW BY AGENCIES.—Each Commission 11 |
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| 71 | 71 | | shall— 12 |
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| 72 | 72 | | (A) review the findings and recommenda-13 |
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| 73 | 73 | | tions of the Committee; 14 |
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| 74 | 74 | | (B) promptly issue a public statement each 15 |
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| 75 | 75 | | time the Committee submits a finding or rec-16 |
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| 76 | 76 | | ommendation to a Commission— 17 |
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| 77 | 77 | | (i) assessing the finding or rec-18 |
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| 78 | 78 | | ommendation of the Committee; 19 |
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| 79 | 79 | | (ii) disclosing the action or decision 20 |
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| 80 | 80 | | not to take action made by the Commis-21 |
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| 81 | 81 | | sion in response to a finding or rec-22 |
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| 82 | 82 | | ommendation; and 23 |
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| 83 | 83 | | (iii) explaining the reasons for the ac-24 |
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| 84 | 84 | | tion or decision not to take action; and 25 |
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| 87 | 87 | | •HR 9579 IH |
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| 88 | 88 | | (C) each time the Committee submits a 1 |
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| 89 | 89 | | finding or recommendation to a Commission, 2 |
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| 90 | 90 | | provide the Committee with a formal response 3 |
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| 91 | 91 | | to the finding or recommendation not later than 4 |
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| 92 | 92 | | 3 months after the date of the submission of 5 |
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| 93 | 93 | | the finding or recommendation. 6 |
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| 94 | 94 | | (c) M |
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| 95 | 95 | | EMBERSHIP ANDLEADERSHIP.— 7 |
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| 96 | 96 | | (1) N |
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| 97 | 97 | | ON-FEDERAL MEMBERS .— 8 |
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| 98 | 98 | | (A) I |
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| 99 | 99 | | N GENERAL.—The Commissions shall 9 |
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| 100 | 100 | | appoint at least 20 nongovernmental stake-10 |
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| 101 | 101 | | holders who represent a broad spectrum of in-11 |
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| 102 | 102 | | terests, equally divided between the Commis-12 |
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| 103 | 103 | | sions, to serve as members of the Committee. 13 |
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| 104 | 104 | | The appointees shall include— 14 |
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| 105 | 105 | | (i) digital asset issuers; 15 |
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| 106 | 106 | | (ii) persons registered with the Com-16 |
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| 107 | 107 | | missions and engaged in digital asset re-17 |
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| 108 | 108 | | lated activities; 18 |
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| 109 | 109 | | (iii) individuals engaged in academic 19 |
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| 110 | 110 | | research relating to digital assets; and 20 |
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| 111 | 111 | | (iv) digital asset users. 21 |
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| 112 | 112 | | (B) M |
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| 113 | 113 | | EMBERS NOT COMMISSION EMPLOY -22 |
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| 114 | 114 | | EES.—Members appointed under subparagraph 23 |
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| 115 | 115 | | (A) shall not be deemed to be employees or 24 |
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| 117 | 117 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 |
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| 118 | 118 | | •HR 9579 IH |
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| 119 | 119 | | agents of a Commission solely by reason of 1 |
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| 120 | 120 | | membership on the Committee. 2 |
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| 121 | 121 | | (2) C |
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| 122 | 122 | | O-DESIGNATED FEDERAL OFFICERS .— 3 |
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| 123 | 123 | | Notwithstanding section 1009 of title 5, United 4 |
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| 124 | 124 | | States Code, the Committee shall have two des-5 |
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| 125 | 125 | | ignated Federal officers or employees, as described 6 |
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| 126 | 126 | | under such section, with each Commission desig-7 |
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| 127 | 127 | | nating one officer or employee of the Commission to 8 |
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| 128 | 128 | | serve as a designated Federal officer or employee, 9 |
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| 129 | 129 | | from among individuals who possess an under-10 |
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| 130 | 130 | | standing of digital assets, blockchain systems, and 11 |
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| 131 | 131 | | financial technology. 12 |
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| 132 | 132 | | (3) C |
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| 133 | 133 | | OMMITTEE LEADERSHIP .— 13 |
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| 134 | 134 | | (A) C |
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| 135 | 135 | | OMPOSITION; ELECTION.—The Com-14 |
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| 136 | 136 | | mittee members shall elect, from among the 15 |
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| 137 | 137 | | Committee members— 16 |
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| 138 | 138 | | (i) a chair; 17 |
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| 139 | 139 | | (ii) a vice chair; 18 |
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| 140 | 140 | | (iii) a secretary; and 19 |
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| 141 | 141 | | (iv) an assistant secretary. 20 |
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| 142 | 142 | | (B) T |
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| 143 | 143 | | ERM OF OFFICE .—Each member 21 |
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| 144 | 144 | | elected under subparagraph (A) in a 2-year pe-22 |
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| 145 | 145 | | riod referred to in section 1013(b)(2) of title 5, 23 |
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| 146 | 146 | | United States Code, shall serve in the capacity 24 |
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| 149 | 149 | | •HR 9579 IH |
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| 150 | 150 | | for which the member was so elected, until the 1 |
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| 151 | 151 | | end of the 2-year period. 2 |
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| 152 | 152 | | (d) N |
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| 153 | 153 | | OCOMPENSATION FOR COMMITTEEMEM-3 |
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| 154 | 154 | | BERS.—All Committee members shall— 4 |
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| 155 | 155 | | (1) serve without compensation; and 5 |
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| 156 | 156 | | (2) while away from the home or regular place 6 |
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| 157 | 157 | | of business of the member in the performance of 7 |
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| 158 | 158 | | services for the Committee, be allowed travel ex-8 |
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| 159 | 159 | | penses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in 9 |
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| 160 | 160 | | the same manner as persons employed intermittently 10 |
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| 161 | 161 | | in the Government service are allowed expenses 11 |
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| 162 | 162 | | under section 5703(b) of title 5, United States Code. 12 |
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| 163 | 163 | | (e) F |
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| 164 | 164 | | REQUENCY OF MEETINGS.—The Committee 13 |
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| 165 | 165 | | shall meet— 14 |
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| 166 | 166 | | (1) not less frequently than twice annually; and 15 |
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| 167 | 167 | | (2) at such other times as either Commission 16 |
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| 168 | 168 | | may request. 17 |
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| 169 | 169 | | (f) D |
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| 170 | 170 | | URATION.—Section 1013(a)(2) of title 5, United 18 |
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| 171 | 171 | | States Code, shall not apply to the Committee. 19 |
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| 172 | 172 | | (g) T |
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| 173 | 173 | | IMELIMITS.—The Commissions shall— 20 |
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| 174 | 174 | | (1) adopt a joint charter for the Committee 21 |
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| 175 | 175 | | within 90 days after the date of the enactment of 22 |
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| 176 | 176 | | this section; 23 |
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| 177 | 177 | | (2) appoint members to the Committee within 24 |
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| 178 | 178 | | 120 days after such date of enactment; and 25 |
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| 181 | 181 | | •HR 9579 IH |
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| 182 | 182 | | (3) hold the initial meeting of the Committee 1 |
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| 183 | 183 | | within 180 days after such date of enactment. 2 |
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| 184 | 184 | | (h) F |
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| 185 | 185 | | UNDING.—The Commissions shall jointly fund 3 |
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| 186 | 186 | | the Committee. 4 |
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| 187 | 187 | | (i) D |
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| 188 | 188 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 5 |
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| 189 | 189 | | (1) B |
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| 190 | 190 | | LOCKCHAIN.—The term ‘‘blockchain’’ 6 |
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| 191 | 191 | | means any technology— 7 |
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| 192 | 192 | | (A) where data is— 8 |
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| 193 | 193 | | (i) shared across a network to create 9 |
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| 194 | 194 | | a public ledger of verified transactions or 10 |
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| 195 | 195 | | information among network participants; 11 |
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| 196 | 196 | | (ii) linked using cryptography to 12 |
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| 197 | 197 | | maintain the integrity of the public ledger 13 |
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| 198 | 198 | | and to execute other functions; and 14 |
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| 199 | 199 | | (iii) distributed among network par-15 |
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| 200 | 200 | | ticipants in an automated fashion to con-16 |
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| 201 | 201 | | currently update network participants on 17 |
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| 202 | 202 | | the state of the public ledger and any other 18 |
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| 203 | 203 | | functions; and 19 |
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| 204 | 204 | | (B) composed of source code that is pub-20 |
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| 205 | 205 | | licly available. 21 |
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| 206 | 206 | | (2) D |
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| 207 | 207 | | IGITAL ASSET.—The term ‘‘digital asset’’ 22 |
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| 208 | 208 | | means any fungible digital representation of value 23 |
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| 209 | 209 | | that can be exclusively possessed and transferred, 24 |
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| 210 | 210 | | person to person, without necessary reliance on an 25 |
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| 213 | 213 | | •HR 9579 IH |
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| 214 | 214 | | intermediary, and is recorded on a cryptographically 1 |
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| 215 | 215 | | secured public distributed ledger. 2 |
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| 216 | 216 | | (3) D |
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| 217 | 217 | | IGITAL ASSET ISSUER.—With respect to a 3 |
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| 218 | 218 | | digital asset, the term ‘‘digital asset issuer’’ means 4 |
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| 219 | 219 | | any person that, in exchange for any consideration— 5 |
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| 220 | 220 | | (A) issues or causes to be issued a unit of 6 |
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| 221 | 221 | | such digital asset to a person; or 7 |
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| 222 | 222 | | (B) offers or sells a right to a future 8 |
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| 223 | 223 | | issuance of a unit of such digital asset to a per-9 |
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| 224 | 224 | | son. 10 |
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| 225 | 225 | | Æ |
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