President Joe Biden’s contentious veto of Staff Accounting Bulletin 121 may face a House of Representatives vote next week. SAB 121, a proposed SEC rule requiring entities reporting to the SEC to include cryptocurrency holdings on their balance sheets, is currently listed on the House’s agenda for potential consideration, as per House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s weekly schedule.
The House is constitutionally obligated to vote on overturning or upholding presidential vetoes, with the votes expected to occur on Tuesday or Wednesday. In May, a resolution to overturn SEC’s SAB 121 received bipartisan support in the House (228-182 votes) and Senate (60-38) before President Biden vetoed it later that month.
Critics argue that SAB 121 could hinder American banks from effectively custodying cryptocurrency exchange-traded products at scale, potentially increasing concentration risk by relying more on non-bank entities. However, overriding Biden’s veto will require a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate. The resolution garnered support from only 55.6% and 61.2% of House and Senate members in May, necessitating additional Democratic support this time.
Alexander Grieve from cryptocurrency investment firm Paradigm highlighted the challenge ahead, noting the bipartisan nature of the previous vote: “It’s a steep hill to climb but not impossible given how bipartisan the FIT vote was.”
The Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, which aims to clarify how U.S. commodities and securities regulators handle cryptocurrency-related matters, was passed by the House with a vote of 279-136 in May.
Meanwhile, as the 2024 U.S. election approaches in November, both President Biden and Republican candidate Donald Trump are intensifying their campaign efforts. Both candidates have recently focused more on digital asset-related issues, which Kerri Langlais, chief security officer at Bitcoin miner TeraWulf, views as a positive development for the industry.
Source: Yuga Cohler
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