Senators Warner and Thune introduced the RESTRICT Act to protect national security, which could have a negative impact on crypto.
The bill will establish new procedures in order to “identify, deter, disrupt, prevent, prohibit, and mitigate transactions involving information and communications technology products in which any foreign adversary has any interest.”
The bill was introduced ahead of a congressional hearing on Tik-Tok to investigate the company’s connections to China. Coin Center’s Director of Research, Peter Van Valkenburgh, warned that it could be used to stop Americans from using cryptocurrency networks like Bitcoin or conducting cryptocurrency transactions.
Peter Van Valkenburgh states that the primary concern of the advocacy group with the RESTRICT Act is that it would establish a system within the Secretary of Commerce that would essentially operate in parallel with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Treasury Department.
Van Valkenburgh argues that the system would be “redundant” and create two separate executive branch components that could ban technologies without procedural checks. Additionally, the word “interest” could be used to bar Americans from using certain technologies if read widely.
Compiled by Coinbold
