US House may vote to overturn Biden’s SAB 121 veto next week
United States President Joe Biden's controversial veto to block Staff Accounting Bulletin 121 could be voted on by the House of Representatives next week.
SAB 121 — a proposed rule mandating that SEC-reporting entities custodian of cryptocurrencies to record those holdings on their balance sheets — is currently on the House's “legislation that may be considered” list, according to a weekly schedule posted by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.
Voting to overturn or uphold presidential vetoes is a constitutional obligation for the House, so it must vote again. The votes could be taken on Tuesday or Wednesday.
A resolution to overturn the Securities and Exchange Commission's SAB 121 rule received bipartisan support from the House (228-182 votes) and Senate (60-38) in May before it was vetoed by Biden later that month.
Opponents argue SAB 121 would prevent American banks from being able to custody cryptocurrency exchange-traded products at scale, potentially creating a “concentration risk” by handing over more control to non-bank entities.
However, a two-thirds majority vote from both the House and Senate will be needed to overturn Biden's veto.
Only 55.6% and 61.2% of the House and Senate members voted for the resolution in May, meaning even more support is needed from Democrats this time.
“Steep hill to climb but not impossible given how bipartisan the FIT vote was,” explained Alexander Grieve, who tackles government affairs issues at cryptocurrency investment firm Paradigm.
The Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, aimed at providing clarity over how the US commodities and securities regulators handle cryptocurrency-related matters, was voted in 279-136 by the House in May.
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Meanwhile, Biden and Republican candidate Donald Trump continue to increase their campaign efforts in the lead up to the 2024 US election in November.
Both candidates have paid more attention to digital asset-related issues in recent months, which is a “good development” for the industry, Kerri Langlais, chief security officer at Bitcoin miner TeraWulf recently told Cointelegraph.
Albeit to different degrees, both Biden and Trump's original positions on crypto have shifted favorably our way in the last year. We should continue to build on that progress with our education and political efforts.”
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