The U.S. House of Representatives has taken an important step towards establishing a clear and comprehensive regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, with four bills passing the bipartisan committee stage this week.
1) Financial Innovation and Technology Law for the 21st Century
The most important bill, the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21), aims to provide clarity on the definition and classification of digital assets and create a safe haven for blockchain innovators.
The bill, presented by Representative Tom Emmer and co-sponsored by Representative Darren Soto, passed the House Financial Services Committee by a 35-15 vote, with six Democrats voting in favor of the Republicans. The bill also passed unanimously by the House of Representatives Agriculture Committee.
The FIT21 bill requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to issue joint rules on the valuation of digital assets and create a joint digital asset working group to advise them within 180 days of becoming law.
The bill will also exempt certain blockchain developers and providers from registration requirements unless they have custody of user funds or data.
2) Clarity Act for Payment Stablecoins
Another bill that passed the committee stage was the Clarity for Payments Stablecoins Act, which requires stablecoin issuers to obtain a banking contract and comply with banking regulations.
The bill, presented by Representative Maxine Waters and co-sponsored by Representative Patrick McHenry, faced strong opposition from the White House, which issued a statement saying it would “undermine financial stability and consumer protection.”
Despite the White House's objection, the bill passed the House Financial Services Committee by a vote of 31-26, with all five Democrats backing the Republicans. Representative McHenry said the bill would “protect consumers and ensure stablecoins are not used for illegal purposes.”
3) Blockchain Regulatory Clarity Act and “Keep Your Coins” Laws
The other two bills that passed the committee stage were the Blockchain Regulatory Clarity Act, which would exempt certain blockchain service providers from money transferring license requirements, and the Keep Your Coins law, which would prohibit states from taxing or regulating unsupervised wallets.
Both bills were presented by Representative Tom Emmer and supported by Representative Warren Davidson, but only received the Republican vote.
The next step for these bills is to be put to a vote in the House of Representatives, which is expected to take place in the fall. If the bills pass the House, they will go to the Senate where they will be reviewed and discussed once again.
*Not investment advice.