Majority of US House Passes Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act
The US House of Representatives took an important step in cryptocurrency market structure legislation by approving the "Financial Innovation and Technology Act for the 21st Century" (FIT21) by a vote of 279-136, with strong support from many Democratic members. This has been noted as the cryptocurrency industry's most significant legislative achievement in Congress.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a sweeping bill aimed at creating regulations for digital asset markets by a 279-136 vote, marking the cryptocurrency industry’s biggest policy victory in the United States. In the vote, Democrats supported the legislation, crossing party lines.
FIT21 marked the first instance of a major cryptocurrency bill passing one house of Congress. But the bill’s future is less clear in the Senate. Support for the legislation remains uncertain as there is no corresponding bill in the Senate. The necessary committees did not carry out as much work on cryptocurrency as the House of Representatives.
The US has lagged behind other global jurisdictions in creating cryptocurrency regulations, and despite the victory on Wednesday, implementing such oversight is far from complete.
“We need rules of the road,” said Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), one of the Democrats who supported the legislation despite opposition from the White House. said. He called the legislation “well-thought-out, comprehensive and bipartisan legislation” and argued ahead of the vote that it was “fit to become law if we work together.”
Overall, 71 Democrats and 208 Republicans voted in favor of the legislation, while 3 Republicans and 133 Democrats voted against it.
President Joe Biden opposed the legislation in a policy statement, although he did not say he would veto it when Congress recently tried to overturn the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) effort to create a cryptocurrency accounting policy. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler also strongly opposed the law in a lengthy public statement, arguing that the law was not necessary and jeopardized existing securities regulations.
The legislation, largely supported by House Republicans, would provide consumer protection by creating a regime for regulating U.S. cryptocurrency markets, position the Derivatives Trading Commission (CFTC) as the leading regulator of digital assets and gatekeeper of non-security spot markets, and ensure that a cryptocurrency token is a It would more clearly define whether it is a security or a commodity.
Waters argued that the law seeks to allow cryptocurrency businesses that evade securities laws to avoid liability.
“They have already made billions of dollars by issuing or facilitating the trading of cryptocurrency securities,” Waters said. “And Republicans are now proposing to reward these illegal activities by legalizing them.”
Ahead of Wednesday afternoon’s vote, the House passed a handful of amendments filed by Reps. Greg Casar (D-Texas), Brittany Pettersen (D-Co.), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) and Scott Perry (R-Pa.). discussed. Casar’s motion to reduce a $75 million crowdfunding exemption to $5 million was rejected, but others were accepted.
