I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5036 

To establish an Independent Financial Technology Task Force, to provide 

rewards for information leading to convictions related to terrorist use 

of digital currencies, to establish a FinTech Leadership in Innovation 

Program to encourage the development of tools and programs to combat 

terrorist and illicit use of digital currencies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2018 

Mr. BUDD (for himself and Mr. LYNCH) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To establish an Independent Financial Technology Task 

Force, to provide rewards for information leading to 

convictions related to terrorist use of digital currencies, 

to establish a FinTech Leadership in Innovation Program to encourage the development of tools and programs to combat terrorist and illicit use of digital currencies, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Financial Technology 

5 Protection Act’’. 


SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 5036 IH

1 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 It is the sense of Congress that the Federal Govern3 ment should prioritize the investigation of terrorist and 

4 illicit use of new financial technology, including digital 

5 currencies. 

6 SEC. 3. INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY TASK 

7 FORCE. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Inde9 pendent Financial Technology Task Force (the ‘‘Task 

10 Force’’), which shall consist of— 

11 (1) the Secretary of the Treasury, who shall 

12 serve as the head of the Task Force; 

13 (2) the Attorney General; 

14 (3) the Director of the Central Intelligence 

15 Agency; 

16 (4) the Director of the Financial Crimes En17 forcement Network; 

18 (5) the Director of the Secret Service; 

19 (6) the Director of the Federal Bureau of In20 vestigation; and 

21 (7) 6 individuals appointed by the Secretary of 

22 the Treasury to represent the private sector (includ23 ing the banking industry, nonprofit groups, and 

24 think tanks), with at least 1 of such individuals hav25 ing experience in the Fintech industry. 

26 (b) DUTIES.—The Task Force shall— 


SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 5036 IH

1 (1) conduct independent research on terrorist 

2 and illicit use of new financial technologies, includ3 ing digital currencies; and 

4 (2) develop legislative and regulatory proposals 

5 to improve counter-terrorist and counter-illicit fi6 nancing efforts. 

7 (c) ANNUAL CONGRESSIONAL REPORT.—Not later 

8 than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

9 and annually thereafter, the Task Force shall issue a re10 port to the Congress containing the findings and deter11 minations made by the Task Force in the previous year 

12 and any legislative and regulatory proposals developed by 

13 the Task Force. 

14 SEC. 4. REWARDS FOR INFORMATION RELATED TO TER15 RORIST USE OF DIGITAL CURRENCIES. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury, in 

17 consultation with the Attorney General, shall establish a 

18 fund to pay a reward, not to exceed $450,000, to any per19 son who provides information leading to the conviction of 

20 an individual involved with terrorist use of digital cur21 rencies. 

22 (b) USE OF FINES AND FORFEITURES.—With re23 spect to fines and forfeitures related to the conviction of 

24 an individual involved with terrorist use of digital curVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:19 Feb 22, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5036.IH H5036

SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 5036 IH

1 rencies, the Secretary of the Treasury shall, without fur2 ther appropriation or fiscal year limitation— 

3 (1) use such amounts to pay rewards under this 

4 section related to such conviction; and 

5 (2) with respect to any such amounts remaining 

6 after payments are made under paragraphs (1) and 

7 (2), deposit such amounts in the FinTech Leader8 ship in Innovation Program. 

9 SEC. 5. FINTECH LEADERSHIP IN INNOVATION PROGRAM. 

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a pro11 gram to be known as the ‘‘FinTech Leadership in Innova12 tion Program’’, which shall be funded as provided under 

13 section 4(b)(2). 

14 (b) INNOVATION GRANTS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas16 ury shall make grants for the development of tools 

17 and programs to detect terrorist and illicit use of 

18 digital currencies. 

19 (2) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—The Secretary may 

20 make grants under this subsection to entities located 

21 in the United States, including academic institu22 tions, companies, nonprofit institutions, individuals, 

23 and any other entities locating in the United States 

24 that the Secretary determines appropriate. 


SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 5036 IH

1 (3) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—With respect to tools 

2 and programs described under paragraph (1), in ad3 dition to grants for the development of such tools 

4 and programs, the Secretary may make grants 

5 under this subsection to carry out pilot programs 

6 using such tools, the development of test cases using 

7 such tools, and research related to such tools. 

8 (4) PREFERENCES.—In making grants under 

9 this subsection, the Secretary shall give preference 

10 to— 

11 (A) technology that is nonproprietary or 

12 that is community commons-based; 

13 (B) computer code that is developed and 

14 released on an open source basis; 

15 (C) tools that are proactive (such as meet16 ing regulatory requirements under ‘‘know your 

17 customer’’ and anti-money laundering require18 ments for any entity that has to comply with 

19 U.S. Government regulations) vs. reactive (such 

20 as aiding law enforcement organizations in 

21 catching illegal activity after the fact); and 

22 (D) tools and incentives that are on decen23 tralized platforms. 

24 (5) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.— 


SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 5036 IH

1 (A) USE OF EXISTING GLOBAL STAND2 ARDS.—Any new technology developed with a 

3 grant made under this subsection shall be based 

4 on existing global standards, such as those de5 veloped by the Internet Engineering Task Force 

6 (IETF) and the World Wide Web Consortium 

7 (W3C). 

8 (B) SUPPORTING EXISTING LAWS OR REG9 ULATIONS.—Tools and programs developed with 

10 a grant made under this subsection shall be in 

11 support of existing laws or regulations, includ12 ing the Bank Secrecy Act, and make efforts to 

13 balance privacy and anti-money laundering con14 cerns. 

15 (C) OPEN ACCESS REQUIREMENT.—Tools 

16 and programs developed with a grant made 

17 under this subsection shall be freely accessible 

18 and usable by the public. This requirement may 

19 be fulfilled by publicly availing application pro20 gramming interfaces or software development 

21 kits. 

22 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

23 For purposes of this Act: 

24 (1) BANK SECRECY ACT.—The term ‘‘Bank Se25 crecy Act’’ means— 


SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 5036 IH

1 (A) section 21 of the Federal Deposit In2 surance Act; 

3 (B) chapter 2 of title I of Public Law 91– 

4 508; and 

5 (C) subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, 

6 United States Code. 

7 (2) DIGITAL CURRENCY.—The term ‘‘digital 

8 currency’’— 

9 (A) means a digital representation of value 

10 that— 

11 (i) is used as a medium of exchange, 

12 unit of account, or store of value; and 

13 (ii) is not established legal tender, 

14 whether or not denominated in established 

15 legal tender; and 

16 (B) does not include— 

17 (i) a transaction in which a merchant 

18 grants, as part of an affinity or rewards 

19 program, value that cannot be taken from 

20 or exchanged with the merchant for legal 

21 tender, bank credit, or digital currency; or 

22 (ii) a digital representation of value 

23 issued by or on behalf of a publisher and 

24 used solely within an online game, game 

25 platform, or family of games sold by the 


SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 5036 IH

1 same publisher or offered on the same 

2 game platform. 

3 (3) TERRORIST.—The term ‘‘terrorist’’ includes 

4 a person carrying out domestic terrorism or inter5 national terrorism (as such terms are defined, re6 spectively, under section 2331 of title 18, United 

7 States Code). 

Æ 


SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS