Regulation
What is the future of FIT21? (A summary of the 2024 Consensus)
CoinDesk held its annual consensus conference in Austin, Texas last week, where we heard from lawmakers and regulators, developers, business executives, and all sorts of other folks in and around this industry. One topic of discussion: the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act. Its passage in the House has sparked a wave of enthusiasm in the cryptocurrency industry as a sign of progress, even though it likely won’t become law yet.
And on another note, I wanted to thank everyone who greeted me at Consensus last week. It was great seeing you all.
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Representatives Patrick McHenry and Tom Emmer and Senator Ron Wyden spoke on the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21) during their various sessions last week.
One of the main topics of discussion was the House’s passage last month of the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, a market structure bill that, if signed into law, would fundamentally reshape the regulatory frameworks that regulate cryptocurrency-related activities and operations in the United States. The chances – any bill, really – of passing the Senate are slim.
Passing a bill in the Senate is a complex process. As CoinDesk previously reported, the Senate may want to start from scratch on a market structure bill, meaning it would have to go through a full committee process.
Even if the current version of the bill passes, the Senate is likely to change provisions or other aspects of the bill, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) told the audience last week. ). In that case the bill would return to the House.
“Right now my best bet would be if we can get this done this year, probably more likely during the lame duck period, once the dust settles and everyone wearing their jerseys now recognizes that we have to move forward,” he said.
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), who chairs the Financial Services Committee, said he expects the legislation to be signed into law within the next year, noting the overwhelming support FIT21 has received (279 votes in favor).
“The fact that the White House didn’t threaten a veto on FIT21 was helpful and positive, and shows that they want to be at the table and at the policy here,” he said. “The Senate is a more complicated beast. It always is.”
The next step for the bill’s supporters, he said, will be to contact senators about the legislation.
“If we can get two-thirds of the House to vote for this bill, they should be able to get two-thirds of the Senate to vote for this bill or something very similar,” he said.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), one of the Democratic lawmakers who voted to overturn the Security and Exchange Commission’s Staff Accounting Bulletin 121, said of FIT21 that “what you really need is a regulatory framework.”
“This is what President McHenry is trying to do,” he said. “You have to be tough on scammers and scam artists.”
“It’s unclear how far this bill will go, but I think Chairman McHenry is right to establish some sort of regulatory framework and focus more on fighting fraud and scam artists,” he said.
Over the next few weeks, this newsletter will include transcripts of some of the conversations held at Consensus.
If you have any thoughts or questions about what I should discuss next week, or any other feedback you’d like to share, feel free to email me at nik@coindesk.com or find me on Twitter @nikhileshde.
You can also join the group conversation on Telegram.