North Carolina House Representative Patrick McHenry has proposed a bill that would amend one of the laws governing the Securities and Exchange Commission to provide a safe haven for certain token projects, according to Coin Telegraph.
In the Digital Token Clarity Bill 2021 submitted by the House Committee on Financial Services, McHenry proposed amending the Securities Act of 1933 to create a safe haven for token development teams. He suggested allowing projects to offer tokens without registration for up to three years, during which time teams would be given the opportunity to create a fully decentralized network.
McHenry's bill appears to be based on an initiative by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester Pierce, which has called for the creation of a safe haven for projects that raise money to build Decentralized networks after the concept was first introduced in 2019. Similarly, Pierce's proposal proposes giving network developers a three-year grace period to build a decentralized network without threats of legal action by the SEC.
If approved, Pierce said in February 2020, the proposed safe haven could be the most innovative development of the US cryptocurrency market to date.
We need to nurture innovation and technology in this country, not send it abroad, McHenry said. Adding that this bill [...] helps bring legal certainty to digital asset projects that desperately need regulatory clarity to launch.
Christine Smith, CEO of the Blockchain Association, praised McHenry's efforts to create a safe haven, emphasizing the collaboration between innovators and regulators.
The Chamber of Digital Commerce, a US crypto advocacy group, said the bill has the potential to provide a clear and much-needed path forward for those creating innovations and solutions. New ones benefit from digital tokens.