The U.S. House Committee on Financial Services has introduced comprehensive crypto market structure legislation aimed at establishing regulatory clarity and consumer safeguards for digital assets.
The bill designates most cryptocurrencies as commodities falling under the primary jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). This classification aims to resolve long-standing regulatory ambiguities by reducing jurisdictional overlap between the CFTC and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Significant consumer protection measures are embedded in the proposal, enforcing stricter reporting standards for exchanges and implementing robust protocols to combat fraudulent activities and market manipulation across trading platforms.
By clarifying the regulatory landscape, the legislation seeks to encourage greater institutional participation in digital asset markets. This approach intends to boost market liquidity and stability by mitigating compliance uncertainties for traditional financial entities.
The framework supports blockchain innovation through balanced oversight, explicitly creating pathways for decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and non-fungible token (NFT) ecosystems while maintaining fundamental market safeguards. Provisions promoting transaction transparency and platform accountability further strengthen market integrity to attract both retail and institutional investors.