On the recordMay 22, 2024
Mr. Chair, I thank Mr. McHenry for yielding. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of H.R. 4763, the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, because the time has come for us to establish a comprehensive regulatory system for digital assets. About 70 percent of digital assets are currently unregulated. That leaves a large number of retail investors unprotected in a volatile market where many people have already lost their life savings. There is clearly a gap in oversight over our digital asset cash markets, and I believe the status quo is unacceptable. Despite previous volatility, a significant number of Americans continue to own and invest in digital assets in an unprotected manner. As Congress falls behind other nations in the race to establish a clear regulatory framework, we run the risk of industry players taking their services and customers abroad, including to foreign jurisdictions with insufficient regulations. Since we began this process over a year ago, I made it a point to work across the aisle with Chairs Thompson and Johnson to improve this bill as much as possible. I am happy to report that the bill retains many of the provisions that I fought for, with one of the most important pieces being a funding mechanism for the CFTC. Increased funding will be vital for the CFTC as they take on further oversight activities and engage in a rulemaking process.…





