U.S. Sen. Wyden: House ‘Right’ to Pursue Crypto Bill, Late in Session for More Progress

The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee told a Consensus 2024 audience that the House of Representatives was on the right track with the FIT21 bill. Wyden said he and others in the Senate decided to slam the brakes on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s controversial crypto accounting standard and reconsider using a “different standard” on the custody of digital assets.

AUSTIN, Texas – Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a U.S. Senate Democrat supportive of crypto issues, expressed skepticism on Friday about the swift passage of a legislative solution for the crypto industry. Speaking at CoinDesk’s Consensus 2024, Wyden indicated that while significant progress has been made, substantial momentum is expected to continue into the next year in Washington.

Following the House of Representatives’ recent approval of the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21), spearheaded by Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), the bill now resides with the Senate. The legislation, aimed at establishing a market structure for digital assets, garnered support from a third of the House Democrats.

“It’s getting late in this session, so it’s unclear how far that bill will move,” Wyden remarked at the Austin event. “But I think Chairman McHenry is right to establish a kind of regulatory framework and put a sharper focus on fighting fraud and rip-off artists.”

“We’ve made a lot of headway, but there’s a long way to go,” Wyden added.

Wyden, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, was among the 11 Senate Democrats who joined Republicans in opposing the SEC’s crypto accounting policy, Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121 (SAB 121). Although both the House and Senate passed a resolution to overturn this policy, President Joe Biden has threatened to veto it.

“It basically sets up a different standard for crypto than everybody else has in the financial sector with respect to custody,” Wyden explained. “A group of us said, ‘Let’s just hold on here and take the time to make sense and not just establish a whole separate unique barrier to storing customers’ crypto.'”

Wyden, also a member of the Congressional Internet Caucus, voiced his support for stablecoins and highlighted innovations in blockchain technology, such as the creation of portable medical records. He acknowledged that Congress often grapples with new technologies but noted that crypto presents a “great issue for people to run on” in this year’s congressional elections.

“There’s no question that there’s growing interest here,” he said. “It’s being driven by a lot of young, creative people.”