Two House panels advance crypto market structure bill
A pair of House panels voted Tuesday to advance legislation laying out oversight of the crypto market.
The House Financial Services Committee and House Agriculture Committee held separate markups on the CLARITY Act, with both ultimately voting to report the bill out of committee.
The scenes in the two committees, however, were vastly different. The House Agriculture Committee voted 47-6 to advance the legislation after a relatively brief two-and-a-half-hour discussion.
The House Financial Services Committee, by contrast, spent nearly twelve hours working through dozens of amendments before reaching a final vote shortly before midnight. The panel was also more split on the bill, with a 32-19 vote to advance the legislation.
'Congress has a historic opportunity to provide the clear regulatory framework needed to unlock this innovation,' House Financial Services Chair French Hill (R-Ark.) said in a statement.
'I am proud that the Financial Services Committee, along with the House Agriculture Committee, took this vital step in advancing the bipartisan CLARITY Act through our Committees,' he continued. 'I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their support as this bill is one step closer to becoming law.'
The CLARITY Act splits regulation of the digital assets market between two regulators — the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
The bill has to be approved by both panels since the House Financial Services Committee oversees the SEC, while the House Agriculture Committee has jurisdiction over the CFTC.
The legislation has faced pushback from House Democrats, particularly as President Trump and his family have increasingly expanded their involvement in the crypto space, from meme coins to stablecoins.
'Republicans are jamming through the 'CALAMITY Act,' which not only legitimizes Trump's corruption, but also creates enormous loopholes that expose investors to fraud and weakens our national security,' Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), ranking member on the House Financial Services Committee, said Tuesday.
Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, offered a more conciliatory tone while still voicing some concerns about the bill.
'The CLARITY Act is not a perfect bill, but it's an important step forward,' Craig said Tuesday, later adding, 'I still believe while many of us are going to vote here today to advance this legislation that there is still some work to do before it gets to the House floor.'
The votes to advance the market structure legislation in the House comes as the Senate prepares to hold another key procedural vote on stablecoin legislation Wednesday.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) moved to end debate Monday on an updated version of the GENIUS Act, which seeks to create a regulatory framework for stablecoins, teeing up the final few votes on the legislation in the upper chamber.
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