US Lawmakers To Consider Legislation That Would Clarify When Crypto Assets Are Securities: Report

Members of a key congressional committee reportedly just voted to advance a proposed legislation that will establish when crypto assets should be treated as securities or commodities.

According to Reuters, the House Financial Services Committee passed the proposed law on Wednesday and the House Agriculture Committee will consider the same bill on Thursday.

If the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 4763) becomes law, it will clarify the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in relation to crypto.

The SEC has been accusing crypto platforms of selling crypto assets that the regulatory agency considers unregistered securities. The recent court decision in the Ripple Lab’s case countered this argument when Judge Analisa Torres that the San Francisco payment company’s open-market sales of XRP did not constitute security sales.

The markup of the bill— the process when members of the congressional committee debate on and amend the proposed legislation before advancing it for the consideration of the House of Representatives, marks the first time that a crypto regulatory bill was put to a vote in Congress.

Says Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), chair of the House Financial Services Committee,

“As other jurisdictions like the UK, the [European Union], Singapore and Australia have moved forward with clear regulatory frameworks for digital assets, the United States is at risk of falling behind. We intend to change that today.”