A second House committee approved legislation that would significantly change the way cryptocurrencies are regulated in the U.S., including directing agencies to create clear rules around when a digital asset can transition from being a security to a commodity.
The bill becomes the most significant piece of digital asset legislation to advance this far in Congress. Now that committees debated, amended and advanced the unusual cross-jurisdictional effort, the legislation is likely to be voted on by the entire House of Representatives in the near future.
"The legislation marks a significant milestone in the House Committee on Agriculture’s efforts to create a much-needed digital asset regulatory framework that protects consumers and investors while promoting American leadership in finance and technology,” said the Pennsylvania Republican at Thursday’s committee meeting.
Thursday’s debate and amendment process at the House Agriculture Committee was significantly less tense than either Wednesday’s debate of the same bill, or a concurrent debate over the stablecoin bill in the House Financial Services Committee. The bill had an unusual two committee debate and amendment process due to shared jurisdiction over the two different types of asset markets, and respective regulatory agencies, at play: securities and commodities.