After what seems like forever, the U.S. parliament is set to address the issue of cryptocurrency regulation in the country. The U.S Congress plans to address the issue of cryptocurrency regulation in the country on Thursday, Dec 13 by introducing two bills that will help protect investors and consumers against fraud. The bills will also ensure that the country remains a big player in the crypto and blockchain sector.

The regulatory framework currently in place sees Bitcoin and Ethereum overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The other cryptocurrencies asides those two are mostly regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

According to a tweet by Kate Rooney, the U.S. Congress seems to be getting more serious about cryptocurrencies and regulating the industry. She pointed out that Bipartisan lawmakers are planning to introduce cryptocurrency bills on Thursday to protect consumers and keep the U.S. competitive.

Cryptocurrencies continue to gain more attention

The massive surge in prices of cryptocurrencies last year alongside a fundraising method called an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) caught the attention of lawmakers in the country. Startups and other companies took advantage of the new fundraising model. ICOs started to present problems though as they started to look an awful lot like security futures but they were not regulated.

SEC has since then clamped down on ICOs conducted in the country and have arrested some fraudulent elements of the industry. The commission was set up to ensure that investors and consumers receive adequate protection against securities and it has so far performed well to ensure that it regain the public’s trust and confidence, bolstering the economic recovery.

With investors losing millions of dollars in ICOs due to some projects turning out to be failures or ran by fraudsters, SEC was forced to step in and regulate the space. One of the bills that are set to be introduced by lawmakers this week is dubbed is the “Virtual Currency Consumer Protection Act.” This bill is expected to put together a report regarding cryptocurrency price manipulation and look into how it has and will affect the U.S. economy.

The second bill dubbed the “U.S. Virtual Currency Market and Regulatory Competitiveness Act” will be put in place to ensure competitive success in the global blockchain market. It will give the CFTC a direction to follow in studying regulatory laws surrounding cryptocurrency in other leading countries. The commission will then make recommendations on future regulations of the industry to the parliament.

These two bills are special as they are the first to be put in place by the U.S. government. The U.S. Congress is expected to roll out further regulations.