U.S. Senate virtual asset bill draft seeks to exclude 'staking, airdrops, DePIN' from securities regulation

The U.S. Senate Banking Committee has released a draft virtual asset (cryptocurrency) bill that excludes staking, airdrops, and DePIN from securities regulation.

On the 6th, according to crypto media CoinDo, the core of the proposed draft is a provision that, in principle, does not classify staking, airdrops, and tokens prior to legal review (Pre-legal tokens) as securities. However, exceptions apply if fraud or other illegal acts are involved. The industry has expressed expectations that this revision would greatly reduce regulatory uncertainty.

The bill also explicitly excludes DePIN (decentralized physical infrastructure networks) projects, which build physical infrastructure in a decentralized manner, from the scope of securities law. It also includes provisions to protect decentralized finance (DeFi) developers, self-custody, and open-source innovation.

Additionally, a provision establishing a cooperative framework between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) was also introduced, which is expected to alleviate jurisdictional conflicts between the two agencies. The outlet added, "Excluding staking and DePIN from securities regulation can provide clarity," and "If this draft passes as is, it could bring significant changes to how virtual asset projects operate in the United States."