Rep. McHenry Says Crypto Legislation Is Weeks Away

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The head of the House Financial Services Committee plans to introduce cryptocurrency legislation soon.

Rep. Patrick McHenry, RN.C., told an audience at the CoinDesks Consensus 2023 event Friday, April 28 that the legislation could be crafted within the next two months.

Asked if a bill could be signed into law by President Joe Biden within the next 12 months, McHenry said yes, but added that creating new policy through legislation is always difficult.

What we plan to do over the next two months is signal a deal, McHenry said, according to a CoinDesk report. He noted that the bill will address both securities and commodities regimes and difficult issues on either side.

Read more: US senators to introduce new crypto legislation next week

Senator Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo, was also on the panel. She said she looked forward to coordinating those efforts with McHenry, adding that the House had a better chance than the Senate of getting the legislation passed sooner. If the House acts on crypto first, she added, it would improve our chances in the Senate.

We’ve tried to keep a partisan tinge to this topic, Lummis said. This is a bipartisan topic that we need to address before the 2024 election.

The lawmakers’ comments came days after a pair of House hearings on digital currencies that show PYMNTS writing that there is a will in Congress to create rules for cryptocurrencies, even if the issue how to get there is up for debate.

Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) has already adopted a landmark regulatory framework designed specifically to bring cryptocurrency into its market legally.

A number of prominent figures in the crypto industry have argued that the US needs to come up with clearer regulations for its industry or risk its companies moving overseas.

It’s a critical time here in the United States and, as I like to say, it really is a time for Congress to step in, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire told Bloomberg TV last week. .

He argued that questions were being raised about the competitiveness of the US dollar amid the continued evolution of blockchain technology and internet-based currencies.

Places like the Middle East, Hong Kong and Singapore are all working on their crypto regulations, but the United States is currently lagging behind, Allaire said.

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