Regulation
US House of Representatives Approves FIT21 Crypto Bill With Wave of Democratic Support
The crypto industry recorded its biggest political victory in the United States on Wednesday when the House of Representatives approved a wide-ranging bill to establish regulations for digital asset markets, recording a vote of 279 to 136 which saw Democrats crossing party lines to support him.
The Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century (FIT21) Act marks the first time a major crypto bill has been approved by either chamber of Congress. The issue now heads to the U.S. Senate, where its future is much bleaker because there is no equivalent bill. Support for such an effort remains unclear there, and the necessary committees have not done the same level of work on crypto.
The United States has lagged behind other global jurisdictions in establishing crypto regulations, and despite Wednesday’s victory, the implementation of such oversight is far from complete.
“We need rules of the road,” said Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), one of the Democrats who has weathered White House opposition and the highest-ranking Democrat in the House. House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Maxine Waters (Democrat). -California). He called it “well-reasoned and thoughtful bipartisan legislation” and argued before the vote that “it could become law if we work together.”
A total of 71 Democrats and 208 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, compared to 3 Republicans and 133 Democrats who voted against it.
President Joe Biden opposed the bill with a political statement, although he did not say he would veto the bill, as he did recently when Congress sought to undo an effort by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to set crypto accounting policy. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler also came out strongly against the legislation in a lengthy public statement, saying the bill was unnecessary and endangered existing securities regulations.
The legislation – largely driven by House Republicans – would establish a regime to regulate US crypto markets, establishing consumer protections, installing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as the primary regulator of digital assets and watchdog of non-securities spot markets. and it would more clearly define what makes a crypto token a security or commodity.
Waters argued that the bill seeks to allow crypto companies that have circumvented securities laws to avoid liability.
“They have already made billions of dollars illegally issuing or facilitating the buying and selling of crypto securities,” Waters said. “And Republicans are now proposing to reward these illegal activities by making these activities legal.”
Before Wednesday afternoon’s vote, the House debated a handful of amendments to the bill, including those proposed by Representatives. Greg Casar (D-Texas), Brittany Pettersen (D-Co.), Ralph Normand (SRC) and Scott Perry (R-Pa.). Casar’s amendment to drop the crowdfunding exemption from $75 million to $5 million was defeated, but the rest passed.
UPDATE (May 22, 2024, 9:48 p.m. UTC): Adds vote count, removes mention of CBDC bill.