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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9758 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Evaluating DeFi Opportunities Act''.

SEC. 2. STUDY ON DECENTRALIZED FINANCE.

    (a) Study Required.--The Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination 
with the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures 
Trading Commission, shall carry out a study on decentralized finance 
that analyzes--
            (1) the nature, size, role, and use of decentralized 
        finance blockchain-based protocols;
            (2) the operation of blockchain-based protocols that 
        comprise decentralized finance;
            (3) the interoperability of blockchain-based protocols and 
        blockchain systems;
            (4) the interoperability of blockchain-based protocols and 
        software-based systems, including websites and wallets;
            (5) the decentralized governance systems through which 
        blockchain-based protocols may be developed, published, 
        constituted, administered, maintained, or otherwise 
        distributed, including--
                    (A) whether the systems enhance or detract from--
                            (i) the decentralization of the 
                        decentralized finance; and
                            (ii) the inherent benefits and risks of the 
                        decentralized governance system; and
                    (B) any procedures, requirements, or best practices 
                that would mitigate the risks identified in 
                subparagraph (A)(ii);
            (6) the benefits of decentralized finance, including--
                    (A) operational resilience and availability of 
                blockchain systems;
                    (B) interoperability of blockchain systems;
                    (C) market competition and innovation;
                    (D) transaction efficiency;
                    (E) transparency and traceability of transactions;
                    (F) disintermediation;
                    (G) privacy of user data;
                    (H) security of user personally identifiable 
                information;
                    (I) autonomy;
                    (J) accessibility by users; and
                    (K) affordability for users;
            (7) the risks of decentralized finance, including--
                    (A) pseudonymity of users and transactions;
                    (B) disintermediation; and
                    (C) cybersecurity vulnerabilities;
            (8) the extent to which decentralized finance has 
        integrated with the traditional financial markets and any 
        potential risks or improvements to the stability of the 
        markets;
            (9) how the levels of illicit activity in decentralized 
        finance compare with the levels of illicit activity in 
        traditional financial markets;
            (10) methods for addressing illicit activity in 
        decentralized finance and traditional markets that are tailored 
        to the unique attributes of each;
            (11) how decentralized finance may increase the 
        accessibility and efficiency of cross-border transactions;
            (12) the feasibility of embedding self-executing compliance 
        and risk controls into decentralized finance; and
            (13) any businesses or service providers that are necessary 
        to the communication of user information for a material portion 
        of any decentralized finance transaction.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the 
Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading 
Commission, shall submit to the relevant congressional committees a 
report that includes the results of the study required by subsection 
(a).
    (c) GAO Study.--The Comptroller General of the United States 
shall--
            (1) carry out a study on decentralized finance that 
        analyzes the information described in paragraphs (1) through 
        (13) of subsection (a); and
            (2) not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, submit to the relevant congressional committees a 
        report that includes the results of the study required by 
        paragraph (1).
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Decentralized finance.--The term ``decentralized 
        finance'' means blockchain-based protocols that allow users to 
        engage in financial transactions in a self-directed manner so 
        that a third-party intermediary does not effectuate the 
        transactions or take custody of digital assets of a user during 
        any part of the transactions.
            (2) Relevant congressional committees.--The term ``relevant 
        congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committees on Financial Services and 
                Agriculture of the House of Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
                Affairs and Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the 
                Senate.
                                 <all>
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