On June 7, 2022, Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced the Responsible Financial Innovation Act (RFIA), a bipartisan effort to develop and provide greater regulatory clarity to the eclectic digital asset industry. Since releasing the text of the bill, Senators Lummis and Gillibrand launched a strong public lobbying campaign, discussing the bill at fundraisers, joint conference panel appearances, and other events as an opportunity for bipartisan cooperation and reassertion of US leadership in the distributed ledger technology fintech and investment space. The RFIA would create a more coherent and consistent regulatory framework for the digital asset industry, and encourage responsible financial innovation, flexibility, transparency, and robust consumer protection.

In particular, the bill addresses a number of significant issues involving the digital asset industry, including the following:

Definitions: The RFIA would provide much needed clarity in the digital asset industry by defining key industry terms, such as digital asset, ancillary asset, virtual currency, distributed ledger technology, and smart contract.