The US House of Representatives has reportedly granted its approval for H.R. 1602 — the Eliminate Barriers to Innovation Act – proposed by Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), on April 20th. 

Specifically, H.R. 1602 was reportedly one of the six bipartisan financial services-related bills granted with approval by the House on that day, where the McHenry-sponsored regulation concentrated on regulatory clarity for cryptocurrencies.

Rolled out in March this year,  the bill reportedly aims to offer certainty into the roles of authoritative entities such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, regarding the policing of crypto in America. 

The bill further aims to provide a response to the ongoing discussion of whether crypto tokens are securities or commodities.

“[This bill] requires the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to establish a working group focused on digital assets. This is the first step in opening up the dialogue between our regulators and market participants and moving to needed clarity.” McHenry reportedly remarked regarding the development. 

Under the terms of the bill, Congress would reportedly have 90 days to form the working group among participants from the SEC, CFTC, and the private sector.

The private-sector participants would reportedly be selected from fintech and financial services firms, together with small- and medium-scale enterprises and academia.

Upon constitution, there would be a period of 12 months for the working group to generate a report with insights into the existing crypto regulatory climate. The panel’s work would additionally concentrate on different aspects, nominally crypto custody, cybersecurity, private key management, and investor protection concerns.