Regulation
US House Fails to Overturn Biden’s Veto of SEC Cryptocurrency Rule
- The U.S. House of Representatives voted 228-184 to override President Joe Biden’s veto of H.J.Res. 109 of SAB 121.
- However, the vote did not reach the required two-thirds majority.
The U.S. House of Representatives failed to override President Joe Biden’s veto of legislation seeking to repeal the SEC’s Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 121.
Biden vetoed HJRes. 109a resolution seeking to disapprove SAB 121 on May 31, 2024. This came after the U.S. Congress passed H.J.Res. 109 with bipartisan support.
On July 11, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to repeal a controversial SEC rule that requires banks that hold cryptocurrencies to add them to their balance sheets as liabilities.
The vote fails to reach a two-thirds majority
The House voted 228 times in favor of overriding the veto.
However, this was not enough because it did not reach the two-thirds majority threshold required to override the president’s action. The House won 228-184, but the vote needed 290 votes to pass.
Lawmaker says voting sends a message
The US Congress has not overridden any of Biden’s 12 vetoes since he took office in 2021, with the two-thirds majority requirement a major hurdle amid the political divide between Democrats and Republicans.
This failure to lift the veto means that SAB 121 remains in effect and that banks will likely not find it attractive to provide cryptocurrency custody services.
However, Rep. Mike Flood says the vote “sent a message that a bipartisan majority of the House continues to support repealing SAB 121.”
He added in a statement published on X:
“Banks have long been the most trusted custodians in the United States, and regulators should work with them to provide the same services to digital assets that they have provided to other asset classes over the years.”
Rep. Flood says he will continue to work with other House members to find “pathways” to end SAB 121.