A recent joint committee hearing in the US House of Representatives revealed a consensus on the need for new regulations for digital assets, but also highlighted differences in opinions on what those policies should entail. Despite challenges, industry advocates and crypto holders may be encouraged by the urgent desire to act from senior members of both political parties. Republican chair of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep.

Patrick McHenry, emphasized the need for new laws passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden to modify rules for broker dealers and securities exchanges, and to give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission more authority to regulate non-security digital assets. The top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Maxine Waters, agreed that legislation should happen and noted the bipartisan cooperation between herself and McHenry in developing a comprehensive regulatory framework for stablecoins. However, there are concerns within the crypto industry that exchanges may have to choose between listing digital commodities or digital securities if they were to register as national securities exchanges, and it remains to be seen whether industry and digital asset owners will embrace these new regulations.