The House Financial Services Committee of the United States advanced the crypto market structure bill – the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Bill – with a vote of 32 in favor and 19 against. The bill will next be submitted to the House of Representatives for a full vote. Prior to this, the House Agriculture Committee had approved the bill with 47 votes in favor and 6 against.
The bill was proposed by Representative French Hill in May, aiming to create a fair, practical and forward-looking regulatory framework covering all entities involved in the crypto field. Its main contents include:
Clarify the responsibilities of regulatory authorities: Define the respective roles of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in regulating digital assets. The CFTC will regulate crypto tokens classified as digital commodities, while the SEC reserves jurisdiction over crypto assets regarded as securities.
Establish industry registration requirements: Establish temporary CFTC registration requirements for crypto exchanges, digital commodity exchanges, brokers and traders. These institutions must also comply with rules such as information disclosure, client asset isolation and record keeping.
Protecting users’ relevant rights: Clearly protect users’ rights to hold crypto assets in non-custodial wallets and conduct peer-to-peer transactions.
During the implementation process, the bill has also undergone some discussions and amendments. For instance, earlier this week, Senator Hill proposed an amendment focusing on “the treatment of certain non-controlling blockchain developers”, clearly stating that certain blockchain developers or service providers will not be regarded as “fund transmitters” and are not required to comply with relevant registration requirements. However, some Democrats still hold opposing views. Maxine Waters, a senior member of the Financial Services Commission, proposed amending the legislation to address the conflict of interest allegations related to former President Donald Trump’s crypto business. She believes that Trump might use the bill for personal gain for himself and his family. Meanwhile, Congressman Brad Sherman proposed another amendment to prohibit what he called “bailouts” that might occur in the future crypto industry.
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