The Massachusetts Senate Joint Committee on Financial Services and Joint Committee on Revenue recently considered legislation filed by Sen. Barry R. Finegold to address rapidly developing cryptocurrency policy.
“Cryptocurrency is here. We can and should make wise and careful use of this new financial tool,” said Finegold, who serves as Senate Economic Development chairman. “We have an obligation to protect the wallets of our residents and to responsibly manage our finances as a Commonwealth. These bills can help us make progress on both fronts.”
This month, two joint committees heard Finegold’s proposed cryptocurrency legislation. One, that would establish regulations on certain virtual currencies for fraud prevention, was heard by the Joint Committee on Financial Services on Oct. 7. To protect consumers, the bill requires virtual currency kiosk operators to be licensed as money transmitters. They would be required to clearly disclose fees, risks and policies, and to use blockchain analytics software to help detect fraud. The proposed legislation holds operators responsible for fraudulent withdrawals under appropriate circumstances.
The other bill, heard by the Joint Committee on Revenue, would permit the state treasurer and the public pension fund to invest in stable digital financial assets, like bitcoin, in order to diversify and strengthen the Commonwealth’s investment strategy. It also clarifies virtual currencies should be treated comparably to traditional currencies for taxation purposes.
Each bill awaits a committee report. If reported favorably, they would be assigned to a further Senate committee, a critical next step in reaching the Senate floor for debate.
Finegold also convened leaders and advocates Oct. 8 for the Student and Educator Data Privacy Event in the Massachusetts State House. Alongside Reps. Kate Lipper-Garabedian and Jeff Roy, Finegold held a briefing to call attention to, what he called, commonsense protections for students and educators. Building on the Senate’s recent passage of the Massachusetts Data Privacy Act, which improves protections for consumers and minors, limits intrusive targeted ads, and empowers the attorney general with new enforcement tools, the event focused on bringing greater community awareness to student data privacy reforms.