Senator Ted Budd Proposes Keep Your Coins Act Following SBF’s Conviction

Senator Ted Budd (R-NC) introduced a bill yesterday that would see crypto users’ assets kept in self-hosted wallets in hopes of mitigating third-party risk.

Self-hosted wallets

The bill, appropriately titled the “Keep Your Coins Act,” was formally introduced by Budd in the Senate on November 7th, 2023.

If approved, the “Keep Your Coins Act” would give crypto users direct custody of their digital assets without requiring the use of an intermediary through personal self-hosted wallets. According to the bill, this would allow crypto users to retain “independent control” of their assets while preventing a third-party overreach.

“As consumers face new challenges and risks associated with the use of digital currencies, we should be empowering individuals to maintain control over their own digital assets,” Senator Budd said in a statement. “This approach will foster financial freedom and a more decentralized cryptocurrency ecosystem.”

Post-SBF enforcement

The introduction of Budd’s bill comes less than a week after FTX founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was found guilty on seven counts including wire fraud and money laundering. By the time his exchange collapsed in November 2022, Bankman-Fried had directed the misappropriation of over a total of $8 billion of customer assets.

The trial put a spotlight on the prospect of the greater discussion surrounding the area of crypto regulation and legislation.

In a press conference held shortly after the verdict was announced, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams claimed that while cryptocurrency may be new, “this kind of fraud, this kind of corruption is as old as time.”

Williams went on to state that Bankman-Fried’s conviction served as “a warning” to perpetrators of similar crimes, promising they would “have enough handcuffs for all of them.”

Crypto legislative attempts

This is not the first time Budd has introduced crypto legislation. Most notably, Budd was one of four senators to introduce the Financial Technology Protection Act aimed at studying and countering terrorists’ use of cryptocurrencies in April 2023.

In a statement on his website, Budd claims the “Keep Your Coins Act” will serve to protect direct transactions between individuals without third-party involvement. The bill itself aims to prohibit “Federal agencies from restricting the use of convertible virtual currency by a person to purchase goods or services for the person’s own use, and for other purposes.”

Previously, Representative Warren Davidson (R-OH) was able to introduce a House companion bill named the “Keep Your Coins Act of 2023.” It passed the House Financial Services Committee in July 2023, though has not been further voted on.

The future of the bill remains unclear.