The Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act of 2022" has been presented by U.S. senators to give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) exclusive control over the spot market for digital commodities." New bipartisan legislation aimed at the digital asset market has been introduced by a number of US Senators, all of whom are members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture. 

Recent "Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act of 2022 was launched by U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow, Chairwomen of the Senate Committee (D-MI), John Boozman (R-AR), Ranking Member, Cory Booker (D-NJ), and John Thune (R-SD). The announcement of the bill made in public by the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry stated that the goal of the bipartisan legislation is to provide the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) with new additional tools and authorities to regulate digital commodities. 

The measure closes regulatory loopholes by requiring all digital commodities platforms, including trading facilities, brokers, dealers, and custodians, to register with the CFTC," according to the committee's review of the legislation. According to Senator Booker, the legislation would bolster the regulatory framework and improve the monitoring of digital goods. Senator Thune noted that it is critical to provide the CFTC with the resources necessary to control the expanding market for digital assets.  

In addition, the law recognizes that other financial institutions have a role in regulating digital assets, which are not commodities but act more like securities or payment methods. The measure would rightly work to establish clear federal regulation for digital assets, but it is still unclear how to distinguish between digital commodities and digital securities. In the Senate, there is further legislation that is now underway that tries to address some of these issues using criteria that overlap with those in this bill.  

In order to adequately support its regulation of the digital commodity market, it authorizes CFTC to charge user fees on digital commodity platforms." The law establishes a uniform national standard and mandates that all platforms of digital commodities must register with the CFTC. 

The SEC, among "other financial agencies," is mentioned as having a role to play in regulating digital assets that are securities or payment methods. The bill specifies Bitcoin and Ethereum as digital commodities. It was not immediately evident how stablecoins fit into the legal framework.