U.S. House approves establishing a crypto regulation working group between SEC and CFTC.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill mandating that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) establish a crypto regulation working group to assess the state of current regulatory frameworks and make suggestions for future improvement. The working group would comprise SEC, CFTC, and relevant business representatives, academics, and investor protection organizations.

The bill requires the working group to jointly produce a report.

 The bill, dubbed the Eliminate Barriers to Innovation Act of 2021, requires the working group to produce a report within a year of the bill’s enactment on the current state of crypto regulation in the United States. Specifically, the report is to focus on the impact that lack of regulatory clarity is having on the industry and how current regulatory regimes are impacting the country’s competitive position relative to those of other countries. The working group is also required to propose recommendations for future regulatory change in the crypto industry. 

The bill still needs to be approved by the Senate.

The working group must also include recommended standards and best practices concerning reducing fraud and market manipulation in the industry and improving anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing compliance. However, the bill still needs to be approved by the Senate before being enacted into law. The US SEC and CFTC have made waves in recent months by increasingly taking action against non-compliant and criminal activity in the sector, which many have taken as a sign of coming regulatory scrutiny. The crypto industry has gained massive mainstream exposure this year following bitcoin’s unprecedented bullish rally. This has also raised a concern among regulators as the crypto industry continues to attract more and more big names.