Sponsors (2)
The bill reduces regulatory burdens and clarifies rules for developers and infrastructure providers—potentially boosting innovation—while increasing risks to consumer protections, AML/CFT oversight, and shifting compliance costs and enforcement challenges onto other institutions and governments.
Tech firms and software developers that do not control users' wallets will not be classified as money transmitters, reducing their compliance costs and regulatory burdens.
Providers of wallet infrastructure and self-custody tools can offer services without transmitter registration, likely increasing availability of developer tools and spurring innovation in wallets and infrastructure.
Clarifying statutory definitions (digital asset, distributed ledger, non-controlling developer) reduces regulatory uncertainty and lowers legal compliance risk for businesses.
Consumers and small businesses using services built on exempt tools may face greater risk of fraud or loss and have reduced recourse because transactions can occur without regulated intermediaries.
Exempting some developers from money-transmitter rules could weaken anti-money-laundering and counter‑terrorist financing (AML/CFT) oversight, increasing illicit finance risks in parts of the crypto ecosystem.
Banks and other regulated intermediaries may need to adjust risk assessments and increase monitoring to compensate, raising compliance costs that could be passed on to customers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Introduced January 12, 2026 by Cynthia M. Lummis · Last progress January 12, 2026
Exempts software developers and infrastructure providers who lack unilateral control over users’ transactions from being treated as money transmitters under certain federal laws. It defines key terms like “digital asset,” “distributed ledger,” and “non-controlling developer or provider,” and prevents the federal government from imposing substantially similar registration requirements solely because a party publishes software, provides self-custody tools, or supports distributed-ledger infrastructure. The change takes effect on enactment and preserves other laws and state authority: it does not alter other money-transmitter rules based on different conduct, does not change financial-institution classifications under other statutes, and does not create new federal causes of action against states or private parties inconsistent with the text.