US passes crypto bill as centralised crypto topped 2023 blockchain M&A activity

The US House of Representatives passed a landmark bill on Wednesday (May 22) to regulate cryptocurrency in the country as centralized cryptocurrency is set to peak blockchain merger and acquisition activity in 2023.

The Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21) was passed by a vote of 279-136 and will now be submitted to the U.S. Senate for passage.

The bill is intended to support the US crypto industry by providing legal clarity and protection to cryptocurrency users.

According to Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry, the bill would end the “fight for control” of crypto between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler criticized the bill for creating regulatory loopholes.

“[FIT21] “It would create new regulatory loopholes and undermine decades of precedent regarding the supervision of investment contracts, placing investors and capital markets at immeasurable risk,” Gensler said.

Research and analysis company GlobalData noted in its 2024 thematic intelligence report on blockchain technology that there has been an increase in the number of technology merger and acquisition deals related to blockchain technology.

By 2023, approximately 3.7% of all technology M&A deals were related to blockchain technology; this rate was only 2.2% in 2020.

Source: GlobalData

GlobalData reported that the main targets of these agreements are blockchain development platforms, mining and node infrastructure players, and crypto exchanges and trading platforms.

Large, centralized cryptocurrency exchange platforms such as Coinbase and Kraken have led this merger and acquisition activity.

Between 2014 and 2023, the majority of these deals were US-based. Approximately 35% of all blockchain mergers and acquisitions were made by US companies.

“In data: US passes crypto bill as centralized crypto tops blockchain M&A activity in 2023” was originally created and published by Verdict, a brand owned by GlobalData.

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