The House Financial Services Committee voted to advance the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 4763) to a vote in the full House according to a press release published by Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) on Wednesday.
“There is no commingling,” said McHenry. “The worst practices of FTX are banned in this bill. It is better at worst case than what we have currently, which is no consumer protection in the hopes the courts will understand the complexities of securities and commodities law and the technology. We have to wrestle with it. It is Congress’s obligation to wrestle with it.”
The vote followed a day-long markup session in which lawmakers discussed both H.R. 4763 and the Blockchain Regulatory Act (H.R. 1747), with Committee members ultimately voting in favor of both.
“This bill is filling the gaps in the existing system,” U.S. Rep. French Hill (R-AR) said of H.R. 4763. “The existing system does not work. It does not facilitate what we need in a fit-for-purpose system and this bill does not allow commingling of customer funds or create any get-out-of-jail-free card during the designated provisional registration period for these enterprises.”
“We finally have the opportunity to harness and embrace this next generation of technology here in the United States and we must seize this opportunity,” said U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH). “The citizens of our country, the people that are innovating in this space, candidly, probably lean more left than right, but they’re frustrated because the status quo is not solving problems, it’s not serving people, and it’s leaving America weaker by the day by our failure to act. So, I think it’s heroic to get to this point, I hope we can run through the tape and make this thing happen, I look forward to working with my colleagues to do that.”
“This bill is an absolute step in the right direction,” said Committee Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN). “The United States’ leadership in the global economy is propelled by our ability to leverage innovations that make markets and communication more efficient. America remains a technological leader, not because we force innovations to adopt our values under regulatory duress, but because we allow technology that holds these values at their core to flourish.”
According to an earlier press release published by McHenry, Hill first introduced H.R. 4763 on July 20 alongside House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson (R-PA) and House Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development Chairman Dusty Johnson (R-SD).
Thompson and the Agriculture Committee stated that H.R. 4763 outlines a path for digital commodity brokers, dealers, and exchanges to register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The bill also states that digital commodities and certain stablecoins are not securities and will not be subject to related securities laws. H.R. 4763 also lists disclosure requirements for digital assets, including on risks related to an asset's source code, development plan, and affiliated people.
