The
House
voted
279
to
136
on
Wednesday
to
pass
the
much
heralded
Financial
Innovation
and
Technology
for
the
21st
Century
Act
(FIT21),
which
has
been
cast
as
a
major
win
for
the
industry
considering
this
is
the
furthest
any
crypto-focused
legislation
has
made
it
thus
far
in
the
U.S.
The
bill,
which
saw
support
from
the
vast
majority
of
Republicans
as
well
as
71
Democrats,
will
now
head
to
the
Senate
– though
likely
not
this
year.
Note:
The
views
expressed
in
this
column
are
those
of
the
author
and
do
not
necessarily
reflect
those
of
CoinDesk,
Inc.
or
its
owners
and
affiliates.
This
is
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from
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Node
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If
passed,
the
bill
would
set
up
a
regulatory
framework
for
digital
assets,
helping
to
define
when
a
certain
token
is
a
security
or
commodity.
While
the
bill
is
largely
thought
to
increase
the
Commodity
Futures
Trading
Commission’s
oversight
of
crypto,
the
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission
would
likely
continue
to
play
a
significant
role
in
regulating
the
industry.
While
many
have
said
the
bill
is
something
of
a
turning
point
for
crypto
in
the
U.S.,
not
everyone
thinks
it
will
pan
out
as
expected.
“It
does
not
even
shift
agencies;
SEC
would
still
have
huge
power.
It
provides
for
a
dual
regulatory
regime,
split
between
SEC
and
CFTC.
It
does
this
by
giving
the
CFTC
authority
it
never
had–regulatory
authority
over
a
spot
commodities
market,”
crypto
legal
expert
Gabriel
Shapiro
said
on
X.
“Man
we
have
been
psyopped
so
bad
on
this
FIT21
thing.”
“There
has
never
before
been
a
spot
commodities
market
that
is
*regulated*…we
are
just
handing
this
authority
over
wholesale
to
the
CFTC
and
hoping
they
are
not
insane
fascists
like
Gary
(but
he
used
to
be
head
of
CFTC
lol),”
he
added.
In
other
words,
the
bill
is
essentially
a
way
for
the
government
to
sanction
activities
that
the
industry
has
already
been
doing
without
permission,
and
potentially
sets
up
an
agency
to
interfere
with
what
are
supposedly
free
and
open
markets.
It
was
a
point
echoed
by
Stephen
Palley,
another
leading
legal
voice
in
crypto,
who
said
he
does
“not
like
[it]
at
all.”
“It
needlessly
creates
more
jurisdiction
for
CFTC
over
spot
and
a
walled
garden
for
incumbents,
among
other
things.
But
you
dipshits
kept
asking
for
new
laws,”
Palley,
a
partner
at
Brown
Rudnick,
added.
Somewhat
ironically,
Shapiro
and
Palley’s
criticisms
seem
to
line
up
with
Maxine
Waters
(D-CA),
the
ranking
Democrat
on
the
House
Financial
Services
Committee,
who
said
it
was
the
one
of
the
worst
bills
she’s
ever
seen.
In
addition
to
potentially
stretching
the
resources
of
the
CFTC,
which
only
has
around
700
employees
compared
to
the
SEC’s
4,500,
it
may
also
undermine
other
legislative
efforts
–
like
the
stablecoin
bill
Waters
worked
on
alongside
House
Financial
Services
Chair
Patrick
McHenry
(R-NC).
“Let
me
let
you
[in]
on
a
secret
that
the
big
crypto
doesn’t
want
you
to
know
even
under
this
bill,”
Waters
said.
“The
CFTC
does
not
get
enough
authority
to
regulate
crypto
in
this
bill.”
Likewise,
SEC
Chair
Gary
Gensler
has
said
the
effort
would
create
more
confusion
and
regulatory
gaps
than
it
closes.
Gensler
has
said
for
years
that
the
law
is
clear,
and
that
there
should
not
be
bespoke
rules
for
crypto.
Regardless,
many
in
the
crypto
industry
have
seen
the
bipartisan
vote
as
a
symbolic
vote
for
crypto
itself,
perhaps
a
harbinger
of
a
better
future.
The
move
comes
just
days
after
the
House
and
Senate
voted
to
repeal
a
controversial
SEC
accounting
rule,
which
itself
was
seen
as
a
sign
that
sanity
will
ultimately
prevail.
If
there
is
a
silver
lining,
many
experts
think
FIT21
is
likely
to
die
on
the
vine.
TD
Cowen,
for
instance,
said
a
few
weeks
ago
the
bill
stood
“no
chance
of
becoming
law
in
this
Congress.”
So
maybe
this
is
one
psyop
worth
celebrating?