Lawmakers in the United States have gathered to vote in favor of a crypto bill, called the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21). In a rather historic moment, 279 of the 136 members of the United States House of Representatives gave the green light to this bill on May 22. In the US, the House of Representatives is responsible for drafting legislation and, together with the US Senate, make up the two houses of Congress.
Finally, the United States has joined the list of nations along with India, Japan and South Korea, among others, that are working to bring the volatile and exploitable digital asset sector under regulatory oversight. Bill FIT21 aims to clarify which authorities have how much control over the crypto sector, so that the sector is secured, but not at the cost of slowing its growth.
The FIT21 bill is reported to include distinctive definitions for different categories of crypto assets, so that exchanges know which assets are seen as securities. This clarification would prevent crypto exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase from dealing with the SEC, which affects the growth of the crypto sector.
It also ensures that oversight of the digital asset industry is bifurcated between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to reports, the CFTC could see more involvement in crypto oversight compared to the SEC, which has, on several occasions, been accused of attacking the crypto sector under the leadership of Gary Gensler.
Gensler has voiced opposition to the bill saying, “The crypto industry's record of failures, frauds and bankruptcies is not because we don't have rules or because the rules are unclear. It's because many players in the crypto industry don't play by the rules “.
However, US crypto industry players and stakeholders are celebrating the passage of the FIT21 bill. Coinbase CEO Brain Armstrong, along with others, posted about the development at X and many called this a “historic” vote for the crypto industry.
Historic vote today on the FIT21 bill in the House of Representatives, which will finally begin to create clear rules to regulate crypto (if it becomes law).
Americans want to know their representatives are protecting their rights to use crypto, creating clear rules for…
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) May 22, 2024
FIT21 passes the house 279 – 136 :tada:
House Democrats voting for this bill: 71.
This is a *huge* number of elected Democrats voting “no confidence” in the current SEC and sending a message to the Biden administration that “anti-crypto” is a losing platform this year. pic.twitter.com/zmlD1VRQfF
— Jake Chervinsky (@jchervinsky) May 22, 2024
The House of Representatives made history today by passing the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21). The success of FIT21 is proof that protecting blockchain technology in the US has strong, bipartisan support.
It is an important step to offer…
— cdixon.eth (@cdixon) May 22, 2024
The bill will now move to the Senate for approval, where it would be signed into law.
Against the backdrop of this development, the crypto price chart showed gains alongside most cryptocurrencies on Thursday, May 23. According to CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin and Ether are trading at $69,485 (roughly Rs. 57.8 lakh) and $3,789 (roughly Rs. 3.15 lakh), respectively.
