Crypto Law Profile

Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act

H.R. 4763 would have created a U.S. digital asset market-structure framework allocating CFTC and SEC authority. It passed the House in May 2024 but was not enacted.

United States Expired Bill
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At a glance

Status Passed House in 118th Congress, referred to Senate, and expired without enactment.
Jurisdiction United States federal digital asset market-structure bill.
Regulator split Would allocate authority between the CFTC and SEC using decentralization and functionality concepts.
Intermediaries Would create registration regimes for digital commodity and restricted digital asset intermediaries.

Bill details

Bill number
H.R. 4763
Session
118th Congress (2023-2024)
Chamber
House
Legislative stage
Dead

Action

Last action
Received in the Senate, read twice, and referred to Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Last action date
Sep 9, 2024

Sponsor

Primary sponsor
Rep. Glenn Thompson
Sponsor party
Republican
Co-sponsors
J. French Hill; Dusty Johnson; Warren Davidson; Tom Emmer; Marcus Molinaro; Henry Cuellar; Wiley Nickel; John R. Curtis; Jim Banks; Patrick T. McHenry; Ritchie Torres

Source

Source provider
Congress.gov
Source ID
118-HR4763
State legislature
Official bill page

Overview

The Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, commonly known as the FIT21 Act, was a United States federal digital asset market-structure bill introduced as H.R. 4763 in the 118th Congress. Rep. Glenn Thompson introduced the bill on July 20, 2023, and Congress.gov lists its historical status as passed by the House, with the latest action on September 9, 2024, when it was received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. The House passed the bill on May 22, 2024, by a recorded vote of 279-136.

As of June 4, 2026, this profile treats H.R. 4763 as expired rather than enacted. Congress.gov does not list Senate passage, presentment, or a public law number for H.R. 4763, and the 118th Congress ended on January 3, 2025. The bill therefore has no enacted date or effective date in this profile.

FIT21 Act purpose and regulatory structure

The official text states that the Act’s purpose was to provide for a system of regulation of digital assets by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The bill’s short title was the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act.

Congress.gov’s summary describes FIT21 as a proposed regulatory framework for digital assets. Under that framework, the CFTC would regulate digital assets as commodities if a related blockchain was functional and decentralized, and the CFTC would receive exclusive authority over cash or spot digital commodity markets. The SEC would regulate digital assets as securities when the related blockchain was functional but not decentralized. The summary also notes proposed exemptions from certain SEC requirements and joint CFTC-SEC rulemaking.

Key FIT21 provisions for digital asset markets

  • Digital commodity markets: FIT21 would have created a CFTC certification process for listing and trading digital commodities and registration rules for digital commodity exchanges. The bill text also recognized multiple registrations for platforms operating in more than one regulated capacity.
  • Digital asset offers and sales: The bill would have established rules for transactions involving certain digital assets, including restricted digital assets and digital commodities, with conditions tied to issuer conduct, holding periods, and decentralization certification.
  • Certification and SEC review: FIT21 would have allowed certifications related to decentralized systems and digital commodities, while giving the SEC processes to review, rebut, and appeal certain certifications.
  • Intermediary registration: The bill would have created registration and regulatory requirements for digital commodity brokers and dealers, including capital and operational standards.
  • Custody and customer protection: FIT21 included provisions on qualified digital commodity custodians, cybersecurity, business continuity, segregation, and treatment of customer property.
  • DeFi and self-custody: The text included rulemaking instructions and protections related to lawful self-custody, while also identifying certain decentralized finance activities that would not trigger intermediary registration solely by reason of those activities, subject to anti-fraud and anti-manipulation authority.

Status, timeline, and related successor proposals

H.R. 4763 moved through House committee action in 2024, was reported by the Agriculture and Financial Services committees, and passed the House on May 22, 2024. On September 9, 2024, it was received in the Senate and referred to Senate Banking. No later enactment action appears on the Congress.gov tracker.

Editors should distinguish FIT21 from later market-structure proposals. In the 119th Congress, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, H.R. 3633, also known as the CLARITY Act, became the related House-passed successor proposal. That later bill should be linked as a related law profile if an internal Crypto Laws entry exists.

Key provisions

CFTC spot-market jurisdiction

Would give the CFTC authority over cash or spot digital commodity transactions and registered digital commodity exchanges.

CFTC Source

Digital commodity exchange registration

Would require trading facilities offering spot digital commodity markets to register with the CFTC, subject to limited exemptions.

Exchanges Source

Broker and dealer registration

Would establish registration and regulation for digital commodity brokers and dealers, including capital and operational standards.

Brokers Source

Offers and sales framework

Would create rules for restricted digital asset transactions and digital commodity sales, including certification-related conditions.

Issuance Source

Decentralization certification

Would create processes for decentralized-system and digital-commodity certifications, with SEC review, rebuttal, and appeal procedures.

Certification Source

Customer asset protections

Would impose custody, segregation, customer-property, recordkeeping, cybersecurity, and business-continuity requirements.

Custody Source

DeFi and self-custody provisions

Would protect lawful individual self-custody and exclude listed DeFi activities from some intermediary-registration triggers.

DeFi Source

SEC-CFTC coordination

Would require joint rulemaking and create a Joint Advisory Committee on Digital Assets.

Coordination Source

Timeline

  1. Introduced in House

    H.R. 4763 was introduced by Rep. Glenn Thompson and referred to House Financial Services and Agriculture.

    Introduced Source

  2. Reported by House committees

    House Agriculture and House Financial Services reported amended versions and the bill was placed on the Union Calendar.

    In committee Source

  3. Passed House

    The House passed H.R. 4763 by recorded vote, 279-136.

    Passed Source

  4. Referred in Senate

    The bill was received in the Senate, read twice, and referred to Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

    In committee Source

  5. 118th Congress ended

    The 118th Congress ended without FIT21 being enacted; this profile treats H.R. 4763 as expired.

    Expired Source

Who it affects

Actors

Custodians, DeFi protocols, Digital asset brokers, Digital asset dealers, Digital asset exchanges, Digital asset issuers, Digital commodity brokers, Digital commodity dealers, Digital commodity exchanges, Wallet providers

Asset classes

Digital assets, Digital commodities, Restricted digital assets, Stablecoins

Official sources

H.R. 4763 Congress.gov bill overview Congress.gov Bill status English Primary H.R. 4763 Congress.gov bill text Congress.gov Bill text Sep 9, 2024 English Primary H.R. 4763 all actions Congress.gov Bill actions English Primary H.R. 4763 cosponsors Congress.gov Cosponsors English Primary House legislative process overview U.S. House Process reference English Primary Senate dates of sessions U.S. Senate Congress dates English Primary H.R. 3633 CLARITY Act overview Congress.gov Related bill English Primary

Editorial note

Congress.gov’s historical tracker lists H.R. 4763 as passed by the House. Because the 118th Congress ended on January 3, 2025 and the bill was not enacted, this profile treats FIT21 as expired. The 119th Congress CLARITY Act, H.R. 3633, is a related successor proposal and should be linked as a related law if available.