GOP Lawmakers Push Bill To Block Federal Crypto Surveillance

HomeNews* Republican lawmakers introduced new bills to limit federal government oversight of cryptocurrency and digital assets.

• Senator Mike Lee co-introduced the Keep Your Coins Act to block federal authorities from accessing or surveilling digital asset transactions.
• The proposed law would protect individuals’ rights to self-custody of digital assets, preventing government-required third-party involvement.
• The House also passed legislation to stop the Federal Reserve from offering a central bank digital currency directly to individuals.
• These actions reflect growing efforts by Republicans to keep digital assets decentralized and free from federal surveillance. Republican lawmakers in Washington are moving to prevent the federal government from accessing or regulating transactions within the cryptocurrency and digital asset sector. This week, Senator Mike Lee of Utah helped introduce the Keep Your Coins Act, which would stop federal agencies from surveilling digital transactions and require that individuals can store their digital money in wallets they fully control.

• Advertisement - The new legislation, backed by Senator Ted Budd of North Carolina, is designed to block any federal rules that tell individuals how to use their digital assets. It also stops the government from making banks or third-party companies handle those transactions. The intent is to keep the cryptocurrency world a “decentralized ecosystem,” according to the bill’s sponsors.

“Americans deserve to keep their crypto assets where they choose – not where they’ve been forced by the federal government,” Senator Lee said in an official statement. “Washington’s dragnet-style surveillance has eroded the financial privacy of law-abiding Americans for decades. I’m proud to join Senator Budd’s Keep Your Coins Act to protect Americans’ privacy and ability to maintain self-custody of crypto assets.” Senator Budd added, “If cryptocurrencies are going to be digital cash, we need to protect a person’s right to hold their digital cash however they want. I urge my colleagues to support this common-sense legislation to ensure financial freedom for the digital asset ecosystem.”

The legislative movement comes as part of a larger push among Republican lawmakers to limit federal involvement in the digital asset space. Another recent bill passed by the House bans the Federal Reserve from offering a central bank digital currency (CBDC) directly to individuals. Supporters say this would prevent the government from tracking or controlling digital assets.

These proposals, along with others making their way through Congress, point to ongoing Republican efforts to stop the government from monitoring, mandating, or having authority over how Americans store or transfer their digital currencies. For further details on where lawmakers stand on these issues, refer to this resource on cryptocurrency and digital assets and see related coverage on the federal government and crypto fraud enforcement.

Both the House bill and the Keep Your Coins Act highlight the debate over the role of government in citizens’ digital financial privacy, as lawmakers consider how to address potential risks without expanding surveillance.

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