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WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 A bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday proposed a bill to regulate cryptocurrencies, the latest attempt by Congress to formulate ideas on how to oversee a multibillion-dollar industry that has been racked by\u00a0collapsing prices\u00a0and\u00a0lenders halting operations<\/a>.<\/p>\n The regulations offered by Senate Agriculture Committee chair Debbie Stabenow and top Republican member John Boozman would authorize the Commodities Futures Trading Commission to be the default regulator for cryptocurrencies. That would be in contrast with bills proposed by other members of Congress and consumer advocates, who have suggested giving the authority to the Securities and Exchange Commission.<\/p>\n This year, crypto investors have seen\u00a0prices plunge and companies crater\u00a0with fortunes and jobs disappearing overnight, and some firms have been accused by federal regulators of running an illegal securities exchange.\u00a0Bitcoin, the largest digital asset, trades at a fraction of its all-time high, down from more than $68,000 in November 2021 to about $23,000 on Wednesday. Industry leaders have referred to this period as a \u201ccrypto winter,\u201d and lawmakers have been desperate to implement stringent oversight.<\/p>\n The bill by Stabenow, a Democrat from Michigan, and Boozman, of Arkansas, would require all cryptocurrency platforms \u2014 including traders, dealers, brokers and sites that hold crypto for customers \u2014 to register with the CFTC.<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Cryptocurrency meltdown is wake-up call for many, including Congress<\/a><\/p>\n The CFTC is historically an underfunded and much smaller regulator than the SEC, which has armies of investigators to look at potential wrongdoing. The bill attempts to alleviate these issues by imposing on the crypto industry user fees, which in turn would fund more robust supervision of the industry by the CFTC.<\/p>\n \u201cOur bill will empower the CFTC with exclusive jurisdiction over the digital commodities spot market, which will lead to more safeguards for consumers, market integrity and innovation in the digital commodities space,\u201d Boozman said in a statement.<\/p>\n Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and John Thune, R-S.D., are co-sponsors of the bill.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s critical that the (CFTC) has the proper tools to regulate this growing market,\u201d Thune said.<\/p>\n The legislation can be added to the list of proposals that have come out of Congress this year.<\/p>\n