I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 528 

To provide a safe harbor from licensing and registration for certain noncontrolling blockchain developers and providers of blockchain services. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 14, 2019 

Mr. EMMER (for himself and Mr. SOTO) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to 

the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide a safe harbor from licensing and registration 

for certain non-controlling blockchain developers and providers of blockchain services. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Blockchain Regulatory 

5 Certainty Act’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•HR 528 IH

1 SEC. 2. SAFE HARBOR FOR NON-CONTROLLING BLOCK2 CHAIN DEVELOPERS AND PROVIDERS OF 

3 BLOCKCHAIN SERVICES. 

4 (a) PROTECTION FOR NON-CONTROLLING

5 BLOCKCHAIN SERVICES AND SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS.— 

6 No blockchain developer or provider of a blockchain 

7 service shall be treated as a money transmitter (as defined 

8 under State licensing laws, section 1960 of title 18, United 

9 States Code, and section 1010.100 of title 31, Code of 

10 Federal Regulations), money services business (as defined 

11 under section 1010.100 of title 31, Code of Federal Regu12 lation), financial institution (as defined under section 

13 5312 of title 31, United States Code), or any other State 

14 or Federal legal designation requiring licensing or reg15 istration as a condition to acting as a blockchain developer 

16 or provider of a blockchain service, unless the developer 

17 or provider has, in the regular course of business, control 

18 over digital currency to which a user is entitled under the 

19 blockchain service or the software created, maintained, or 

20 disseminated by the blockchain developer. 

21 (b) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.— 

22 (1) CRIMINAL LAW.—Nothing in this section 

23 shall be construed to impair the enforcement of any 

24 Federal criminal statute that is consistent with this 

25 section. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•HR 528 IH

1 (2) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW.—Nothing 

2 in this section shall be construed to limit or expand 

3 any law pertaining to intellectual property. 

4 (3) STATE LAW.—Nothing in this section shall 

5 be construed to prevent any State from enforcing 

6 any State law that is consistent with this section. No 

7 cause of action may be brought and no liability may 

8 be imposed under any State or local law that is in9 consistent with this section. 

10 (c) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section: 

11 (1) BLOCKCHAIN NETWORK.—The term ‘‘block12 chain network’’ means any system of networked 

13 computers that cooperates to reach consensus over 

14 the state of a computer program and allows users to 

15 participate in the consensus-making process without 

16 the need to license proprietary software or obtain 

17 permission from any other user. The term includes, 

18 specifically, a public network of computers that co19 operates to reach consensus over the state of a dis20 tributed ledger describing transactions in a digital 

21 currency. 

22 (2) BLOCKCHAIN DEVELOPER.—The term 

23 ‘‘blockchain developer’’ means any person or busi24 ness that creates, maintains, or disseminates softVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:04 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H528.IH H528

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•HR 528 IH

1 ware facilitating the creation or maintenance of a 

2 blockchain network or a blockchain service. 

3 (3) BLOCKCHAIN SERVICE.—The term ‘‘block4 chain service’’ means any information, transaction, 

5 or computing service or system that provides or en6 ables access to a blockchain network by multiple 

7 users, including specifically a service or system that 

8 enables users to send, receive, exchange, or store 

9 digital currencies described by blockchain networks. 

10 (4) CONTROL.—The term ‘‘control’’ means the 

11 legal right, authority, or ability to obtain upon de12 mand data sufficient to initiate transactions spend13 ing an amount of digital currency. 

14 (5) DIGITAL CURRENCY.—The term ‘‘digital 

15 currency’’ means a medium of exchange, a unit of 

16 account, or a store of value that is represented by 

17 entries in a distributed ledger generated by a 

18 blockchain network. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS