I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9758 

To require the Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures 

Trading Commission, and the Secretary of the Treasury to jointly carry 

out a study on decentralized finance. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 23, 2024 

Mr. DAVIDSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To require the Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Secretary 

of the Treasury to jointly carry out a study on decentralized finance. 

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 ‘‘Evaluating DeFi Op5 portunities Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STUDY ON DECENTRALIZED FINANCE. 

7 (a) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Secretary of the Treas8 ury, in coordination with the Securities and Exchange 


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1 Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commis2 sion, shall carry out a study on decentralized finance that 

3 analyzes— 

4 (1) the nature, size, role, and use of decentral5 ized finance blockchain-based protocols; 

6 (2) the operation of blockchain-based protocols 

7 that comprise decentralized finance; 

8 (3) the interoperability of blockchain-based pro9 tocols and blockchain systems; 

10 (4) the interoperability of blockchain-based pro11 tocols and software-based systems, including 

12 websites and wallets; 

13 (5) the decentralized governance systems 

14 through which blockchain-based protocols may be de15 veloped, published, constituted, administered, main16 tained, or otherwise distributed, including— 

17 (A) whether the systems enhance or de18 tract from— 

19 (i) the decentralization of the decen20 tralized finance; and 

21 (ii) the inherent benefits and risks of 

22 the decentralized governance system; and 

23 (B) any procedures, requirements, or best 

24 practices that would mitigate the risks identi25 fied in subparagraph (A)(ii); 


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1 (6) the benefits of decentralized finance, includ2 ing— 

3 (A) operational resilience and availability 

4 of blockchain systems; 

5 (B) interoperability of blockchain systems; 

6 (C) market competition and innovation; 

7 (D) transaction efficiency; 

8 (E) transparency and traceability of trans9 actions; 

10 (F) disintermediation; 

11 (G) privacy of user data; 

12 (H) security of user personally identifiable 

13 information; 

14 (I) autonomy; 

15 (J) accessibility by users; and 

16 (K) affordability for users; 

17 (7) the risks of decentralized finance, includ18 ing— 

19 (A) pseudonymity of users and trans20 actions; 

21 (B) disintermediation; and 

22 (C) cybersecurity vulnerabilities; 

23 (8) the extent to which decentralized finance 

24 has integrated with the traditional financial markets 


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1 and any potential risks or improvements to the sta2 bility of the markets; 

3 (9) how the levels of illicit activity in decentral4 ized finance compare with the levels of illicit activity 

5 in traditional financial markets; 

6 (10) methods for addressing illicit activity in 

7 decentralized finance and traditional markets that 

8 are tailored to the unique attributes of each; 

9 (11) how decentralized finance may increase the 

10 accessibility and efficiency of cross-border trans11 actions; 

12 (12) the feasibility of embedding self-executing 

13 compliance and risk controls into decentralized fi14 nance; and 

15 (13) any businesses or service providers that 

16 are necessary to the communication of user informa17 tion for a material portion of any decentralized fi18 nance transaction. 

19 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

20 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury, 

21 in coordination with the Securities and Exchange Commis22 sion and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, shall 

23 submit to the relevant congressional committees a report 

24 that includes the results of the study required by sub25 section (a). 


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1 (c) GAO STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the 

2 United States shall— 

3 (1) carry out a study on decentralized finance 

4 that analyzes the information described in para5 graphs (1) through (13) of subsection (a); and 

6 (2) not later than 180 days after the date of 

7 enactment of this Act, submit to the relevant con8 gressional committees a report that includes the re9 sults of the study required by paragraph (1). 

10 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 (1) DECENTRALIZED FINANCE.—The term ‘‘de12 centralized finance’’ means blockchain-based proto13 cols that allow users to engage in financial trans14 actions in a self-directed manner so that a third15 party intermediary does not effectuate the trans16 actions or take custody of digital assets of a user 

17 during any part of the transactions. 

18 (2) RELEVANT CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT19 TEES.—The term ‘‘relevant congressional commit20 tees’’ means— 

21 (A) the Committees on Financial Services 

22 and Agriculture of the House of Representa23 tives; and 


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1 (B) the Committees on Banking, Housing, 

2 and Urban Affairs and Agriculture, Nutrition, 

3 and Forestry of the Senate. 

Æ 


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