FIT21

Overview

The Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21) was a bill passed in the lower house of Congress in May 2024 to explicitly address the treatment of digital assets under U.S. law. However, the bill never passed the Senate and did not become law.

The House Financial Services Committee asserts that the FIT21 Act is "an important step towards achieving regulatory clarity for digital assets", with intent to offer strong consumer safeguards and the regulatory clarity that is necessary for the digital asset industry in the United States to prosper. The legislation defines responsibilities between various US agencies, notably between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for digital commodities and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for securities and firms that deal in them.

The legislation had bipartisan support with both Democrats and Republicans sponsoring the bill. The proposed legislation excludeed certain stablecoins from both CFTC and SEC regulation, "except for fraud and certain activities by registered firms."

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History

The bill was first introduced "into the House Financial Services Committee and the Committee on Agriculture in June 2023."

In early May 2024, the bill was jointly approved by both the Financial Services committee and the Ag committee (which has jurisdiction for law related to commodity exchanges). This set the stage for consideration of the bill by the entire U.S. House of Representatives in late May.

On 22 May 2024 the bill was passed by the full House by a vote of 279–136, with 71 Democrats and 208 Republicans voting to support the measure. The bill passed over the vocal opposition of President Biden and SEC Chair Gary Gensler.

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