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US lawmakers are planning to introduce comprehensive legislation to regulate the cryptocurrency sector within the next two months, according to Representative Patrick McHenry, chair of the House Financial Services Committee.
The legislation is the result of a joint public hearing to be held in May by the House Financial Services Committee and House Agriculture Committee. The bipartisan bill aims to address securities and commodities regimes and other hard-to-fix issues in the crypto sector before the 2024 election, and could be signed by President Joe Biden within the next 12 months.
"What we plan to do over the next two months is report a deal out," said McHenry in a statement.
Despite several crypto-related bills being proposed in Congress last year, comprehensive legislation has yet to be passed in the US. Other jurisdictions, such as the European Union, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates, have already approved comprehensive crypto laws, putting pressure on US lawmakers to introduce legislation that provides adequate guidance and protections for the industry.
Regulators in the US, including the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission, have launched an aggressive crackdown on the crypto industry. Binance and founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao have been sued on allegations of offering unregistered crypto derivative products in the US, and Coinbase has received a "Wells notice" regarding some of its listed digital assets.
McHenry has acknowledged crypto's recent role in the US banking crisis, which has left the industry's banking relationships strained. He has called for clearer regulatory rules to provide certainty that the industry can bank in a safe and sound manner.
"We have to fix this problem, we have to provide certainty that you can bank in a safe and sound manner," he said, adding that "this is a great example of why Congress must legislate and provide clarity."
Last week, McHenry's committee grilled SEC Chair Gary Gensler over his refusal to provide sufficient guidance on whether ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, was a security or not.
