Many lawmakers in the United States House of Representatives are expressing support for a bill clarifying the roles of the country’s financial regulators regarding digital assets as it approaches a floor vote on May 22.
Speaking on the House floor on May 21, North Carolina Representative Wiley Nickel called on lawmakers to support the passage of the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century (FIT21) Act. The bill would clarify how the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulate crypto and, according to Rep. Nickel, “prevent the next FTX” from happening.
“Congress has never voted on a regulatory structure for crypto,” said Rep. Nickel. “In fact, we’re operating on a hundred-year-old securities law.”
Rep. Nickel specifically called on his fellow Democrats and Republicans to vote in favor of the FIT21 bill, emphasizing it had been drafted with bipartisan support. Reports suggested that Democratic leadership strongly opposed passing the crypto bill but would not ‘whip the vote’ against it. A May 21 report from The American Prospect also claimed that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would support FIT21, according to sources “familiar with her thinking.”
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The bill would restrict the SEC’s authority to continue what many have criticized as a “regulation by enforcement” approach to crypto firms. To date, the commission has filed lawsuits against several crypto companies, including Ripple, Kraken, Coinbase and Binance, and individuals connected to them.
Rep. Nickel added:
“The SEC is turning cryptocurrency regulation into a political football and forcing President [Joe] Biden to choose sides on an issue that matters to many Americans.”
The House Committee on Rules is set to discuss the FIT21 bill, or H.R. 4763, at 4:00 pm ET on May 21, with a full floor vote expected the following day. The vote followed the House and Senate passing one of the first crypto-focused pieces of legislation, which would overturn an SEC rule requiring banks to keep customers’ digital assets on their balance sheets with capital maintained against them. On May 8, President Biden said he intended to veto the resolution.
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