U.S. House Gears Up to Decide on Landmark Cryptocurrency Legislation

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21), which seeks to regulate the cryptocurrency market.

This announcement was made by Congressman Patrick McHenry, who is the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and has been instrumental in the making of the bill. The bill had received significant bipartisan backing in his committee, though there was some opposition from the committee’s ranking Democrat, Rep.  Maxine Waters (D-Calif. ). 

Legislative Process and Committee Sanctions

Last year, FIT21 went through several legislative stages, and it was approved by both the House Financial Services Committee and the House Agriculture Committee. The House Rules Committee recently approved it for a House vote next month. This action is quite a significant milestone, as FIT21 may be the first significant digital assets regulatory legislation to finish and pass one of Congress’s chambers. 

Current Situation and Legislative Prospects

The drive for FIT21 is an outcome of many years of bipartisan attempts to make rules for digital assets clear and to show that the regulatory framework is an important issue. This legislation has been identified by Rep.  McHenry, who retires at the end of this term, as one of his priority legislations in his last year. The House is ready to vote on the bill, but the Senate is unlikely to act on it because of little progress on other cryptocurrency bills in that chamber. Nonetheless, the Senate has indicated a bit of receptiveness toward the regulation of digital assets, including stablecoins.