The FIT21 bill (H.R. 4763) was just passed by the House. I still have to do more research on it but my current sentiment is that it’s a win for crypto.
My understanding of the bill:
- It will prevent FTX-style robberies by regulating CEXs as brokers.
- It sets a definition for what a decentralized digital asset is.
- It makes DeFi, validators/miners out of reach of the SEC or CFTC.
- It guarantees the right to self-custody.
- It introduces the concept of investment contracts for digital assets.
I think the biggest changes we can expect from this bill is that some less decentralized blockchains are going to either get rid of some of their tokens supply either by selling or burning them so they aren’t considered a security.
I’m not sure what the implications of the investment contract provision will be. The dems are claiming that it will lead to the collapse of the financial system.
IMO, this bill is the win for:
- Digital assets that meet the decentralization test
- The DeFi ecosystem
- Validators/Miners
- Self-custody
- Keeping devs and innovation in the US 🇺🇸
It is a loss for:
- SBF-style fraudsters
- Potentially TradeFi although I’m unclear on that one
The bill doesn’t mention anything about privacy or mixing technology but it’s probably good for those since the right to self-custody is made clear.
The bill: https://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules118.house.gov/files/RCP_H4763_xml (003).pdf
I haven’t read the bill, but just based on your summary, it doesn’t do anything that encourages me. Mention of privacy rights and the elimination of KYC/AML requirements under certain conditions would be encouraging. For instance, if you’re after big drug cartel or organized crime money launderers, you could set some pretty high limits before KYC/AML rules would kick in. That kind of news would be more encouraging. Strengthening privacy is about the only area of crypto legislation that would perk my interest.