A new crypto-related bill has succeeded within a U.S. House of Representatives committee, gaining unanimous approval for legislation that aims to task the U.S. secretary of commerce with backing blockchain technology. The concise, 13-page bill may not be among the prominent legislation eagerly anticipated by the industry in Congress. Still, the Deploying American Blockchains Act represents a modest yet progressive step for crypto-supportive initiatives in the congressional domain.
This bill adds to a series of other crypto-focused bills that have, for the first time, passed committee votes enroute to consideration on the House floor. However, none of these bills have secured overall House approval thus far.
During a work session of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which assessed numerous bills this week, the legislation that directs the head of the Department of Commerce to promote the competitiveness of the United States related to the deployment, use, application, and competitiveness of blockchain technology or other distributed ledger technology was cleared with a 46-0 vote.
Notably, the bill lacks a Senate counterpart—a prevailing limitation across much of this year’s crypto-related legislation. The Democrat-controlled chamber has not swiftly embraced any bills about digital assets and is widely perceived as hesitant to change course. The potential pathway for such bills could involve negotiations that combine them with other endeavors into larger legislation that must be passed.
According to Ron Hammond, the Blockchain Association’s director of government relations, “At least on the tech side of things, Energy and Commerce are unanimously in support, and there’s nothing partisan about it. Largely, these bills have either gotten looped together into larger bills or led to agency action at Commerce, which has been very open to conversation.”
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