On November 8th, U.S. lawmakers introduced a new bill to the U.S. House of Representatives. The proposed bill seeks to prohibit government officials from using Chinese blockchain projects. Some of the projects mentioned in the bill include Spartan Network, Conflux Network, and Red Date Technology Co. Red Date is a company that supports the Chinese government in issuing digital renminbi.
Additionally, the bill also forbids government agencies from transacting and using products from iFinex, the parent company of the stablecoin USDT, Tether.
Notably, the bill’s primary aim, as stated by its authors, Zach Nunn (Republican) and Abigail Spanberger (Democrat), is to “prevent foreign adversaries from gaining access to critical technical infrastructure that could compromise U.S. national security and privacy.”
In addition to this, lawmakers are hoping that the Department of the Treasury, the Department of State, and the Director of National Intelligence will establish measures to mitigate the risks outlined in the bill.
While the bill has ambitious goals, analysts believe that its prospects for direct discussion in the U.S. House of Representatives in the near future are not high, as there are currently many other crypto regulatory bills under consideration.
Previously, in mid-2023, the U.S. issued a ban on federal officials and employees using the Chinese-origin social media platform TikTok due to concerns about security.