Lawmakers from the United States House Financial Services Committee have revealed their plans to conduct a full floor vote on the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, also known as FIT21. In an announcement made on May 10, Patrick McHenry, the Chair of the House Financial Services Committee, stated that the bill could potentially be voted on by the full chamber “later this month” after undergoing consideration in the House Committee on Rules. The FIT21 bill, which was passed by the committee in July 2023, aims to provide clarity regarding the regulatory roles of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission in relation to digital assets.
Representative French Hill expressed his satisfaction with the progress made on the legislation, stating, “After tirelessly working across the aisle and across the nation over the past year to craft a clear, pragmatic regulatory framework for digital assets, I am proud that this landmark legislation is coming to the House Floor. As the collapse of FTX demonstrated, we need strong consumer protections and a functional regulatory framework to ensure the rapidly growing digital asset ecosystem is safe for investors and consumers while securing America as a leader for blockchain innovation.”
According to Republican lawmakers, the FIT21 bill would grant the CFTC additional authority over digital commodities and clarify the SEC’s role in the crypto industry. This announcement followed a bipartisan vote in the House in favor of a resolution that overturned an SEC accounting rule on crypto, which had faced criticism for imposing restrictions on banks.
It remains uncertain whether the crypto bill will garner enough support to pass the House. Representative McHenry stated that the legislation reaching a full floor vote was the result of “bipartisan efforts,” but it would still need to be approved by the Senate and signed into law by President Joe Biden.
Sheila Warren, the CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation, commented on the updated bill language, saying, “Stakeholders now have updated bill language to assess the changes that have been made since the bill was marked up by HFSC and [Republicans] and [Democrats] last July and approved with bipartisan support. While FIT21 is not a perfect bill (no bill is!), this is a critical and historic step toward establishing a federal regulatory framework for digital assets in the U.S.”
With it being an election year in the United States, many lawmakers are prioritizing the issue of regulating and overseeing digital assets as part of their campaign. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase’s Stand With Crypto initiative has even launched a political action committee to support pro-crypto candidates in 2024. Representative McHenry had previously announced in December that he does not intend to run for reelection.