TechFlow news, October 14 — According to Cointelegraph, discussions in the U.S. Senate Banking Committee regarding the Responsible Financial Innovation Act (RFIA) have stalled. Last week, Democratic lawmakers submitted a counter-proposal containing strict restrictions on decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, notably a "restricted list" mechanism supervised by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to flag DeFi protocols deemed "too risky."
The blockchain industry has reacted strongly. CEO of the Blockchain Association, Summer Mersinger, warned that the proposal would "effectively ban decentralized finance, wallet development, and other decentralized applications from developing in the United States," pushing innovation overseas. Jake Chervinsky, Chief Legal Officer at investment fund Variant, was even more blunt, calling the Democratic proposal "not serious" and essentially "an unprecedented, unconstitutional government takeover of the entire industry."
Currently, Republicans and Democrats are blaming each other over revisions to the bill, and negotiations have been suspended. The deadline set by Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott to pass the bill by the end of September has already passed, and growing partisan divisions have made the prospects of this landmark legislation increasingly uncertain.
