US Senator Introduces Bill To Protect Crypto Ownership Rights

• U.S. Senator Ted Budd introduced the ‘Keep Your Coins Act’ to safeguard citizens’ rights to self-custody crypto. 
• The proposed bill aims to prohibit federal agencies from restricting crypto usage by individuals for purchasing goods or services.
• The act disregards how users obtained their crypto and restricts federal agencies from limiting transactions.

US Senator Ted Budd of the United States has sponsored a new law to defend citizens’ rights to self-custody of cryptocurrencies. The Keep Your Coins Act was introduced in the United States Senate and House of Representatives.

The proposed measure would prohibit federal agencies from limiting a person’s use of convertible virtual money to acquire goods or services for personal use or other purposes. 

The term “covered user” was used in the law to identify someone who got cryptocurrency on behalf of another individual to purchase goods or services. Furthermore, the means by which the covered person received their cryptocurrency was deemed unimportant. 

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The bill states that no agency head may ban or otherwise limit a covered user’s capacity to “use virtual currency or its equivalent for such user’s purposes.” According to the bill, these purposes might include acquiring real or virtual goods and services for the person’s own use. 

Furthermore, the bill would limit government authorities’ ability to prohibit a person from completing transactions using a non-custodial wallet. According to the bill, a non-custodial or self-hosted wallet is an interface used to safeguard and transmit cryptocurrency over which the user retains independent management. 

In April 2023, the senator introduced the Financial Technology Protection Act. The major goal of the act was to combat terrorism and illicit finance, as well as to boost anti-money laundering measures.

Similarly, Congressman Warren Davidson filed a bill called the Keep Your Coins Act in February 2022. The goal of the measure was similar to Budd’s Keep Your Coins measure in that it sought to protect Americans’ right to privacy when dealing with crypto assets.