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Eighth Ohio District Congressman Warren Davidson introduced the "Keep Your Coins" bill in the House of Representatives to protect individuals' own-use crypto portfolios from being controlled by U.S. government agencies.
The intro on February. 15 comes just a day after the Canadian government invoked the Emergencies Act, giving it the power to freeze bank accounts and monitor large transactions (including crypto) without a court order. The move was a direct response to the fundraising efforts of the COVID-19 policy-oriented freedom convoy protesters.
The name of the bill 'Keep Your Coins' is a play on KYC and refers to protections for crypto users from having their own digital assets taken out of their control.
If passed, Davidson’s bill would “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 such as crypto transactions.
Although it seems that the bill was introduced at an appropriate time, there is outrage about the actions of the government of canada, davidson tweeted yesterday that the legislation had been in the works for six years before it was introduced in the house of representatives.
Our office will be introducing legislation in the United States House of Representatives shortly to protect the Americans from this blatant version of theft.
Please let your congresswoman and senators know... https://t.co/UbNdcj8ZZ4
— Warren Davidson (@WarrenDavidson) February 15, 2022
It is unclear how much support the bill will get from the Democrats however, as they have generally been more in favor of clamping down on crypto and blockchain tech:
“Been working on that since 2016. It is unbelievable that Congress will not unite to end the unjust, immoral and unconstitutional practice of confiscating civilian property—that is, government theft."
The Republican congressman — alongside pro-crypto colleagues such as Senator Cynthia Lummis — has long advocated for the privacy and freedom for individuals’ crypto wallets.
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During the Miami Bitcoin conference last year, Davidson stated that the potential over-regulation of the crypto sector concerning private wallets was “a horrible approach.”
"I would like the country to take the threat to privacy as seriously as they take the threat to the second amendment," he said.
'So while financial privacy should already be protected by the Constitution (the fourth amendment), preventing the government from being able to forbid or restrict self use??hosted wallets is a much??needed policy improvement.” https://t.co/RfpyY6yLQ8
— Warren Davidson (@WarrenDavidson) February 16, 2022
Cointelegraph contacted Davidson for feedback on the bill and will update the story once he has replied.
