House Republicans release discussion draft of a bill to regulate the crypto industry at large

House Republicans unveiled a discussion draft of a bill to regulate the digital asset industry, expanding on work done over the years.  

Top Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee — Reps. French Hill and Bryan Steil — along with their counterparts on the House Agriculture Committee — Reps. Glenn "GT" Thompson and Dusty Johnson released the draft on Monday. 

"We made historic progress in the 118th Congress to build bipartisan, bicameral consensus in crafting a functional regulatory framework for digital assets," Hill said in a statement. "Our discussion draft builds upon that work and provides much-needed regulatory clarity for the digital asset ecosystem by protecting consumers and safeguarding the long-term integrity of digital asset markets in the United States." 

The Block earlier reported that lawmakers planned to release the discussion draft ahead of a hearing on Tuesday titled “American Innovation and the Future of Digital Assets: A Blueprint for the 21st Century." The draft was expected to resemble last year’s Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21), which passed the House.

FIT21 set out to clarify when a digital asset would be regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or both. It would have ultimately granted more power and funding to the CFTC to oversee crypto spot markets and "digital commodities," particularly bitcoin, and set parameters for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The discussion draft released on Monday includes language around the SEC and CFTC's authority while also looking to create a "pathway to raise funds under the SEC’s jurisdiction" and "clear process to register with the CFTC for digital commodity trading," according to a one-pager. 

The discussion draft also includes requirements around disclosures and lays out how "digital commodity exchanges" would be registered.