The House Financial Services Committee is holding a markup hearing today for several bills of interest. At the top of the list is the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT Act) – legislation that aims to define a regulatory approach for digital assets in the US.
Chair of the Committee, Patrick McHenry, described the legislation as “historic” providing regulatory clarity and ensuring robust consumer protections for the emerging industry. McHenry also called it an important step in helping the US to remain a leader in innovation.
In opening remarks, McHenry said the legislation is more than a decade in the making.
“Fifteen years ago, the Bitcoin White Paper was published under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. The paper envisioned a global financial network built on peer-to-peer, permissionless transactions of digital assets using public, cryptographically protected distributed ledger technology. Since then, thousands of builders, innovators, and entrepreneurs have worked to make that vision of a more inclusive financial system a reality,” said McHenry. “Terms like cryptocurrency, blockchain technology, and the digital asset ecosystem are now part of the everyday lexicon for millions of Americans and people around the world.”
McHenry reflected on the fact that other jurisdictions have already moved forward in providing a regulatory framework for digital assets, mentioning specifically the EU, UK, Singapore, and Australia.
“Our comprehensive digital asset market structure legislation recognizes a key issue: digital assets that are not inherently securities may be offered as part of an investment contract but that does not make them securities. To clarify how the Supreme Court’s Howey Test applies to digital assets, our bill focuses on two key issues—decentralization and functionality. That is the crux of the FIT for the 21st Century Act, the pairing of those two factors,” stated McHenry.
The list of bills and amendments being considered is available below.
- H.R. 4763, the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act
- An amendment in the nature of a substitute, offered by Mr. Hill
- H.R. 1747, the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act
- An amendment in the nature of a substitute, offered by Mr. Emmer
- H.R. 3244, the Stop Fentanyl Money Laundering Act of 2023
- An amendment in the nature of a substitute, offered by Mr. Luetkemeyer
- H.R. 4768, the No Russian Agriculture Act
- An amendment in the nature of a substitute, offered by Ms. Waters
- H.R. 4765, the Exposing China’s Support for the Taliban Act
- An amendment in the nature of a substitute, offered by Mr. Lynch and Mr. Nunn
- H.R. 2969, the Financial Technology Protection Act of 2023
- An amendment in the nature of a substitute, offered by Mr. Nunn