House Passes Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act with Overwhelming Bipartisan Support
News: House Passes Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act with Overwhelming Bipartisan Support
FIT21 represents an unprecedented joint effort to deliver critical consumer protections and foster innovation in the U.S. digital asset ecosystem. Washington, May 22, 2024 -
- In much of the crytocurrency community joy fills the air as we head into the May 25th, 26th weekend. As news of the impending approval of the Etgher ETF and the passage of the US House of Representatives Bill FIT21 suggests steady progress towards acceptance of cryptocurrency and steady moves toward clarifying legislation for the United States, one of the largest potential cryptocurrency marklets in the world.
- Bitcoin price is at all time highs and Ether heads north towards it's all time highs, and bullish sentiments fill the air.
- Perhaps it's a good time to analyze this bill and consider it's chances of passing the United States Senate.
- So far the powerful Nacy Pelosci, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, who stepped aside to allow younger leaders to lead. And Nick Schumer, the Majority leader of the party in control of the US Senate have expressed their support for the bill. Most say President Bidens previous comments suggesting he will veto the bill have disappearred as his opponent seized the issue to bolster his campaign, so most expect a similar embrace by President Biden.
So what do su[pporters say of the bill?
FIT21 will protect consumers by strengthening transparency and accountability with market participants:
Digital asset developers will be required to provide accurate, relevant disclosures, including information relating to the digital asset project’s operation, ownership, and structure; and
Digital asset customer-serving institutions, like exchanges, brokers, and dealers will be required to:
Provide appropriate disclosures to customers;
Segregate customer funds from their own; and
Reduce conflicts of interest through registration, disclosure, and operational requirements.
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FIT21 will strengthen the market by protecting digital asset projects:
Digital asset developers will have a pathway to raise funds; and
Participants will have a clear process to determine which digital asset transactions are subject to the SEC’s jurisdiction and the CFTC’s jurisdiction.
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FIT21 will protect digital asset customer-serving institutions by:
Establishing clear lines between the SEC and CFTC; and
Creating comprehensive registration regimes to permit them to lawfully serve customers in digital asset markets.
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What do detractors say?
FIT21 ... divides regulatory oversight over spot crypto markets between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and SEC, based on, among other things, the degree of decentralization.
... the bill clarifies that crypto tokens transferred or sold pursuant to an investment contract do not inherently become securities themselves, it gives the SEC plenary authority over such investment contract assets where sold to investors (or issued to developers) for the time period before a project reaches decentralized Valhalla.
... tokens airdropped or earned by end-users are initially “digital commodities” subject to CFTC jurisdiction.
FIT21 allows for concurrent trading in restricted digital assets and digital commodities for the same token in separate and distinct markets during this period (as shown in the graphic below).
... tokens may transition back and forth between the SEC and CFTC markets should decentralized projects re-centralize.
Source
https://img.inleo.io/DQmQeeapwmd7TtEzjHXsSKTmoMA8AjapYC6DqTrH78zcwm7/N6SAKGVZ3ZAJ5JJ2B5UWCVDPII.avif
Last Words
- It appears that this bill, like most legislation about cryptocurrency, especially the first such legislation for a country is not perfect, and may need revisions to make it better, now or in the future.
- Politics being what it is, we frequently see flawed bills passed into law to get the thing done. And them later they are fixed. This may indeed be the case here. But all journeies begin with the first steps. So at least we are out of the house and on the road to our goal destination, should this pass. So we are those big steps closer to our goal.
- The glass is either half full or half empty. I choose to see it as half full, and I hope to catch the waiter and have him/her top off mky glass.
:)