By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 17th, 2024
Patrick McHenry and Glenn Thompson are at the forefront of the new market structure effort.
United States’ first major crypto legislation is currently in the works and from all indications, might even not be far from becoming law. In line with this, members of the House and Senate are already working in collaboration to make the new rules.
Proponents of the new rules will seek to prioritize the concerns of top regulators and put them into consideration. Recall, for instance, that the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are currently carrying out an industry-wide regulatory crackdown. They have both issued recommendations that also align with the broader goal of the Biden-led administration concerning digital assets laws.
Meanwhile, the recent efforts to create a new rule for the digital assets market run concurrently with a nearly-similar one for stablecoins. But while its provisions are still being debated, the goal is that the rule will be introduced by early summer. Therefore, both the stablecoins bill and the one for the markets are expected to reach bipartisan consensus in Congress, before being passed into law by President Joe Biden.
Major Players in the New Crypto Legislation
The House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., and House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., are at the forefront of the new market structure effort. Although Thompson’s committee has jurisdiction over commodities laws, he says his committee is set to work in partnership with the Financial Services Committee. According to Thompson, both chairs are on the “same page” and would be building from scratch to create this legislation.
The duo have since earlier in the year agreed on what shape the crypto markets rule should take. For what it’s worth, the roles of the committees have clashed severally in times past, thus necessitating the need for a holistic market structure bill. And according to McHenry, the committees now have a principle to build on. He said:
“We’re working from those principles to structure Ag and Financial Services pieces for a securities and commodities regime for a holistic market structure bill.”
Nonetheless, the Financial Services Committee still has more jurisdiction on the issue, holding the reserved rights to overhaul and rewrite securities laws.