US Representatives Add Digital Currencies to the 2021 Defense Bill

The United States government is preparing to pass the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and the latest bill includes a broad definition of currencies and includes “digital currencies.” However, after more than 50 NDAA bills passed, President Donald Trump plans to veto the act which is expected to authorize more than $740.5 billion.

• U.S. Congress members are expected to complete the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for the 2021 fiscal year. The NDAA is the name for a series of U.S. laws that involve the U.S. Department of Defense and the entity’s annual budget and expenditures. The NDAA was first invoked in 1961, but during the last two decades, the bill has been very controversial.
• This year’s NDAA includes the name and definition of digital currencies like bitcoin. A summary of the 2021 NDAA by one of its sponsors Mark Warner from Virginia explains that the inclusion of digital currencies is necessary.

Section 308 of the U.S. 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) now includes the broad definition of “digital currency.”

• “[To] ensure the inclusion of current and future payment systems in the AML-CFT regime by updating the definition of “coins and currency” to include digital currency,” explains Mark Warner’s press release that discusses “corporate transparency” and “money laundering.”
• The “digital currency” inclusion can be found in the NDAA’s section 308 which is dubbed “Value that substitutes currency or funds.”
• Section 308 changes the definition from “currency or funds denominated in the currency of any country” to “currency, funds or value that substitutes for currency or funds.”

• The digital currency addition to the latest NDAA, follows a number of politicians who want more oversight on stablecoins. U.S. Representative Maxine Waters, the head of the House Financial Services Committee, wants the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to retract recent crypto-asset guidance.
• This week, U.S. Representatives Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) introduced the Stablecoin Tethering and Bank Licensing Enforcement (STABLE) Act. The Representatives insist the stablecoin bill is aimed at “protecting consumers from cryptocurrency-related financial threats.”
• As far as the latest NDAA completion is concerned, the current U.S. President Donald Trump plans to veto the 2021 NDAA. Trump is not too pleased with the NDAA’s section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The President explained that the NDAA’s language in that particular section protects ‘Big Tech’ firms like Google, Apple, Facebook, and Twitter.

The current National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and section 308 concerning digital currencies can be viewed in its entirety here.