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US Crypto Market Awaits Final Vote on FIT21 Bill Next Week: What to Expect?
House lawmakers are expected to vote on the Republican-led Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century (FIT21) Act. Major cryptocurrency exchanges such as Gemini, Kraken and Coinbase, along with companies such as Andreessen Horowitz and Digital Currency Group, have expressed support for the project. This vote marks a pivotal moment for the crypto market as it moves towards achieving regulatory clarity in the US
60 Crypto Firms Support Vote on Market Structure Bill
Sixty crypto organizations are supporting a market structure bill that will be voted on next week. In a letter led by the Crypto Council for Innovation, signatories urged House lawmakers to approve the bill. The letter was sent to House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Thursday. While FIT21 introduces “new compliance challenges” for crypto companies, the groups highlighted the need for clear rules.
They said in the letter: “Currently, digital asset companies are instructed to comply in some way with U.S. securities laws that were drafted nearly 100 years ago, without regard to today’s technological advances, including the ability to transactions move at Internet speed. .”
The Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21) is scheduled for session next week, with a vote expected mid-week. The bill designates the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as the main regulator of digital assets, defining its responsibilities and those of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It aims to establish consumer protections, including rules for custody and treatment of assets in the event of bankruptcy, and introduces safeguards against risky behavior.
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In an emailed statement, Ji Kim, head of global policy at CCI, acknowledged that no bill is perfect, but highlighted that this legislation establishes a comprehensive and much-needed federal regulatory framework.
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Kim expressed a willingness to collaborate with lawmakers to advance the industry in a way that better protects consumers and ensures innovation stays in the US.
The letter was signed by cryptocurrency exchanges Gemini, Kraken and Coinbase, as well as companies Andreessen Horowitz and Digital Currency Group, among others.
The crypto industry is currently receiving significant support in Washington, as both the House and Senate have passed a resolution overturning the SEC’s crypto accounting policy, despite President Joe Biden’s veto threat. This victory, erasing SEC Personnel Accounting Bulletin 121 (SAB 121), had notable support from Democrats, with more than one in five Democrats in the Senate, including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and about one in ten House Democrats supporting it.
However, the upcoming sweeping legislation in the House is more significant, and top Senate Democrats have yet to demonstrate comparable support. So far, the Senate has only indicated a potential willingness to include a different crypto bill, regulating stablecoin issuers, in a package with other financial legislation.