EFF opposes an amendment to the cryptocurrency provision of the infrastructure bill by Sens. Warner & Portman. It fails to protect software developers & is not technologically neutral. We urge Congress to pass Wyden-Lummis-Toomey amendment instead: eff.org/deeplinks/2021… (1/8)
New cryptocurrency regulations should not reach those who merely write and publish code. Nor should they give preference to any current technology over others. The amendment offered by Sens. Warner & Portman fails both of these core principles. eff.org/deeplinks/2021… (2/8)
Sens. Warner & Portman’s amendment only carves out proof-of-work miners and those creating software or hardware wallets so that users can manage their own cryptocurrency. (3/8)
It thus limits the carveout to a subset of software developers and establishes a legal preference for a particular type of cryptocurrency verification. (4/8)
Calling out proof-of-work in the amendment would disadvantage existing verification alternatives and potentially chill innovative new verification models. (5/8)
Alternatives include proof-of-stake, which allows network participants to offer up a small amount of cryptocurrency as collateral to engage in verifying transactions. (6/8)
There are also emerging forms of verification, such as proof of space-time or proof of storage, plus future forms of transaction verification, that could be fruitful alternatives to proof-of-work, which is often criticized. (7/8)
Congress should not create legal preferences for one particular type of cryptocurrency model. The Wyden-Lummis-Toomey amendment, which has the backing of civil society groups including EFF, avoids these problems while protecting all software developers and miners. (8/8)
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