-
The
chairman
of
the
Senate
Finance
Committee
told
a
Consensus
2024
audience
that
the
House
of
Representatives
was
on
the
right
track
with
the
FIT21
bill. -
Wyden
said
he
and
others
in
the
Senate
decided
to
slam
the
brakes
on
the
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission’s
controversial
crypto
accounting
standard
and
reconsider
using
a
“different
standard”
on
the
custody
of
digital
assets.
AUSTIN,
Texas
–
Sen.
Ron
Wyden
(D-Ore.),
one
of
the
U.S.
Senate
Democrats
who’ve
shown
some
support
for
crypto
issues,
cast
doubt
Friday
that
a
legislative
solution
for
the
industry
would
move
quickly,
but
he
suggested
to
an
audience
at
CoinDesk’s
Consensus
2024
that
the
momentum
will
continue
next
year
in
Washington.
In
the
wake
of
the
recent
approval
of
the
Financial
Innovation
and
Technology
for
the
21st
Century
Act
(FIT21)
that
was
driven
by
Rep.
Patrick
McHenry
(R-N.C.)
in
the
House
of
Representatives
–
drawing
support
from
a
third
of
the
Democrats
there
–
the
legislation
to
establish
digital
assets
market
structure
is
now
in
the
hands
of
the
Senate.
“It’s
getting
late
in
this
session,
so
it’s
unclear
how
far
that
bill
will
move,”
Wyden
said
at
the
event
in
Austin,
Texas.
“But
I
think
Chairman
McHenry
is
right
to
establish
a
kind
of
regulatory
framework
and
put
a
sharper
focus
on
fighting
fraud
and
rip-off
artists.”
“We’ve
made
a
lot
of
headway,
but
there’s
a
long
way
to
go,”
Wyden
said.
Wyden,
the
chairman
of
the
Senate
Finance
Committee,
was
among
the
11
Senate
Democrats
who
joined
Republicans
in
seeking
to
overturn
the
U.S.
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission’s
crypto
accounting
policy
known
as
Staff
Accounting
Bulletin
No.
121
(SAB
121).
Though
the
House
and
Senate
approved
a
resolution
to
overturn
the
policy,
President
Joe
Biden
has
threatened
to
veto
it.
“It
basically
sets
up
a
different
standard
for
crypto
than
everybody
else
has
in
the
financial
sector
with
respect
to
custody,”
Wyden
said.
“A
group
of
us
said,
‘Let’s
just
hold
on
here
and
take
the
time
to
make
sense
and
not
just
establish
a
whole
separate
unique
barrier
to
storing
customers’
crypto.'”
The
senator,
who
is
also
a
member
of
the
Congressional
Internet
Caucus,
said
he
supports
stablecoins
and
is
rooting
for
innovations
in
blockchain
technology,
such
as
in
the
creation
of
portable
medical
records.
He
said
Congress
often
struggles
with
new
technology,
but
he
added
that
crypto
is
a
“great
issue
for
people
to
run
on”
in
this
year’s
congressional
elections.
“There’s
no
question
that
there’s
growing
interest
here,”
he
said.
“It’s
being
driven
by
a
lot
of
young,
creative
people.”
