US House passes landmark FIT21 crypto bill with bipartisan support

The
US
House
of
Representatives
has
approved
the
Financial
Innovation
and
Technology
for
the
21st
Century
Act
(FIT21),
a
wide-reaching
bill
that
establishes
regulations
for
digital
asset
markets.

The
bill
passed
with
a
279-136
vote,
marking
the
crypto
industry’s
biggest-ever
policy
win
in
the
US
and
the
first
time
a
major
crypto
bill
has
cleared
one
of
Congress’
chambers.

The
vote
saw
significant
bipartisan
support,
with
71
Democrats
joining
208
Republicans
in
favor
of
the
bill,
while
133
Democrats
and
3
Republicans
voted
against
it.
The
bill’s
passage
came
despite
opposition
from
the
White
House
SEC
Chair
Gary
Gensler,
who
argued
that
the
legislation
was
unnecessary
and
endangered
existing
securities
regulations.

Rep.
Josh
Gottheimer
(D-N.J.),
one
of
the
Democrats
who
supported
the
bill,
called
it
“well-reasoned,
thoughtful,
bipartisan
legislation”
and
argued
that
it
was
“fit
to
become
law
if
we
work
together.”
On
the
other
hand,
Rep.
Maxine
Waters
(D-Calif.),
the
ranking
Democrat
on
the
House
Financial
Services
Committee,
criticized
the
bill,
claiming
that
it
sought
to
reward
illegal
activities
by
making
them
legal.

FIT21
aims
to
establish
a
regime
to
regulate
US
crypto
markets,
set
consumer
protections,
and
install
the
Commodity
Futures
Trading
Commission
(CFTC)
as
a
leading
regulator
of
digital
assets
and
the
watchdog
of
the
non-securities
spot
markets.
The
bill
also
seeks
to
more
clearly
define
what
makes
a
crypto
token
a
security
or
a
commodity.
Prior
to
the
vote,
the
White
House

voiced
its
opposition
and
said
that
it
would
not
veto
the
bill.

Before
the
final
vote,
the
House
debated
and
voted
on
several
amendments
to
the
bill.
Amendments
by
Reps.
Brittany
Pettersen
(D-Co.),
Ralph
Norman
(R-S.C.),
and
Scott
Perry
(R-Pa.)
were
adopted,
while
an
amendment
by
Rep.
Greg
Casar
(D-Texas)
was
defeated.

The
passage
of
FIT21
in
the
House
shifts
the
focus
to
the
US
Senate,
where
the
future
of
the
legislation
remains
uncertain.
There
is
currently
no
counterpart
bill
in
the
Senate,
and
support
for
such
an
effort
is
unclear,
as
the
necessary
committees
have
not
done
the
same
level
of
work
on
crypto
as
their
House
counterparts.

From
a
macro
view,
the
US
has
fallen
behind
other
global
jurisdictions
in
establishing
crypto
regulations,
and
while
the
House’s
approval
of
FIT21
is
a
significant
step
forward,
implementing
comprehensive
oversight
of
the
digital
asset
markets
is
far
from
complete.