House Lawmakers Introduce Bill on U.S. Crypto Market Structure
Crypto’s significant presence in the U.S. Congress has been highlighted through a discussion draft of legislation aimed at establishing a comprehensive domestic framework for regulating digital assets for the first time. The House Financial Services Committee and the House Agriculture Committee, both responsible for overseeing these assets, released a working draft of a bill on Monday. Representative French Hill, chairman of the financial-services panel, stated that it can deliver “much-needed regulatory clarity.”
“Today marks the first step in advancing a comprehensive framework that protects consumers, fosters innovation, and closes regulatory gaps in oversight,” remarked Representative Glenn “GT” Thompson, chairman of the agricultural committee, which oversees the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, likely to play a crucial role in crypto regulation. “It will provide digital asset developers and users the certainty they need and have requested.”
On Tuesday, the digital assets subcommittees of both House committees are scheduled to hold a joint hearing on the future of digital assets, where the discussion draft will be in focus. The draft outlines public disclosures that crypto projects must fulfill and allows digital asset developers to raise capital under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s supervision or register with the CFTC to manage the trading of digital commodities.
This bill aims to clarify the jurisdictions of the two U.S. market regulators, addressing an ongoing concern for U.S. crypto businesses. This proposed framework for the long-anticipated crypto legislation is built on a previous initiative known as the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21), which progressed through the House last year. As industry supporters in Congress work urgently on separate efforts to regulate stablecoins, these stablecoin and market-structure bills represent a significant lobbying push for crypto in the U.S. Nonetheless, advocates face challenges due to the crypto business interests of former President Donald Trump, which have attracted criticism.
Stablecoin legislation has already moved through House and Senate committees and is now awaiting broader consideration. Three leading crypto lobbying organizations released a joint statement on Monday, urging the Senate to advance discussions regarding its version of the stablecoin bill, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act. The leaders of the Blockchain Association, Crypto Council for Innovation, and the Digital Chamber have called for Senate support to “move us one step closer to enacting a bipartisan stablecoin framework.”
