60 crypto firms pitch support for FIT21 bill in House

[TomPluz]

Sixty crypto organizations are backing a market structure bill that is teed up for a vote next week.

The signers urged House lawmakers to pass the bill in a letter led by the Crypto Council for Innovation and sent to House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Thursday. FIT21 would raise "new compliance challenges" for crypto firms, but clear rules are needed, the groups said.

"Currently, digital assets firms are instructed to somehow comply with U.S. securities laws that were designed nearly 100 years ago without consideration of the technological advances of today, including the ability for transactions to move at the speed of the internet," they said in the letter.

Get more details on this important news here: https://www.theblock.co/post/295148/60-crypto-firms-pitch-support-for-large-market-structure-bill-ahead-of-next-weeks-vote

The cryptocurrency industry in United States needs more clarity and leadership coming from the regulatory bodies of the government and so I am a little bit excited with the the Republican-led Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, also known as FIT21. I am hoping that this bill can be creating the more light on the compliance all players of the industry must be following. And since this is coming from the Republicans, I am more confident that is is more crypto friendly and not designed to choke the industry to death. I am just concerned on what can happen once this can be seeing the face of Elizabeth Warren in the Senate...hope this will not be watered down and transformed into a monster instead.

[Zed0X]

For anyone wondering what the bill is all about:

Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act

This bill establishes a regulatory framework for digital assets.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) must regulate a digital asset as a commodity if the blockchain, or digital ledger, on which it runs is functional and decentralized. The bill classifies a blockchain as decentralized if, among other requirements, no person has unilateral authority to control the blockchain or its usage, and no issuer or affiliated person has control of 20% or more of the digital asset or the voting power of the digital asset. In addition, the bill provides the CFTC with exclusive regulatory authority over cash or spot markets for digital commodities.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) must regulate a digital asset as a security if its associated blockchain is functional but not decentralized. However, the bill establishes certain exceptions to SEC regulation for digital assets that limit annual sales, restrict nonaccredited investor access, and satisfy disclosure and compliance requirements. The bill also sets forth requirements for primary and secondary market transactions.

The CFTC and SEC must jointly issue rules to define terms and exempt dually registered exchanges from duplicative rules.

The bill excludes permitted stablecoins from CFTC and SEC regulation, except regarding anti-fraud authority and specified transactions on registered entities.

So two regulatory bodies are tasks to work on this and it depends on the type of blockchain. It doesn't look like there's going to be much of a problem passing this bill unless the CFTC and the SEC opposes and they have enough Senators that supports them.