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Bi-partisan Bill Aims To Bring Clarity To Crypto Asset Markets

By  |  June 1, 2025

In a rare showing of bipartisanship in Washington, a group of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle in the House of Representatives on Friday introduced a bill to bring a measure of regulatory certainty to the digital assets market. The bill, titled the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act was sponsored by the chair of the House Financial Services Committee French Hill (R-Ariz.). Co-sponsors include the chair and ranking member of the Agriculture Committee, respectively G.T. Thompson (R-Penn.) and Angie Craig (D-Minn.).

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    The bill would exclude digital commodities sold via investment contract from being considered investment contracts themselves. The provision would allow issuers to create digital assets via blockchain smart contract without the asset itself having to comply with rules governing investment contract, so long as the contract of sale does so. The bill would also exempt offers of sale of investment contracts related to digital commodities from traditional security registration rule, subject to certain conditions.

    Issues would be required to certify to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that a blockchain system used in relation to an offer of sale is mature. The bill directs the SEC to conduct a rulemaking to define the criteria under which a blockchain is considered mature, and allows SEC-regulated brokers, dealers, and exchanges to consider blockchain for books and record-keeping requirements.

    Notably, the bill gives the SEC jurisdiction over digital commodities activity by SEC-registered broker-dealers and exchanges that are otherwise exempt from registration with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Another provision would create a series of new CFTC-registered entities called Digital Commodity Exchanges, Digital Commodity Dealers, and Digital Commodity Brokers, and gives the commission exclusive jurisdiction over cash or spot markets that occur on or with those entities.

    Related: Bipartisan Consensus On Digital-Asset Legislation Breaks Down Over Trump Family Crypto Dealings

    Together, the two provisions bring a measure of clarity to the jurisdictional lines between the two regulators that have bedeviled efforts to create clear rules for crypto investors and issuers.

    Other provisions in the bill address the registration and operation of alternative trading systems (ATSs) that primarily deal with digital commodities and/or permitted stablecoins, custodial rules for digital assets, registration and regulation of digital commodities brokers and exchanges, and the treatment of digital assets by traditional financial institutions.

    The bill has had a rocky road to this point. A long-planned joint committee hearing of the Financial Services and Agriculture committees in early May dissolved in chaos after Democrats who had supported the bill in the past suddenly objected to proceeding after news reports detailed the crypto dealings by President Trump and the Trump family. Several members of each committee walked out of the hearing room and the proceeding was hastily re-designated a roundtable to allow witness testimony to be heard.

    “Our bill brings long-overdue clarity to the digital asset ecosystem, prioritizes consumer protection and American innovation, and builds off our work in the 118th Congress,” Financial Services chair Hill said in introducing the measure. “I look forward to delivering our bill to President Trump’s desk and securing America’s position as the global leader in digital assets.”

    Ranking member of the Agriculture Committee Craig said, “Digital assets, including crypto currencies, are moving from a unique, novel financial product to becoming more and more integrated with our current financial architecture. I believe it is critical that Congress establish clear protections for consumers and retail investors as well as rules of the road for businesses dealing in digital assets.”