The U.S. House Financial Services Committee is prioritizing tokenization in its next phase of crypto policy. Following the Stablecoins and Market Structures Act, the on-chaining of real-world assets, the tokenization of bank deposits, and tax regulations for digital assets are becoming ongoing issues in Congress.
The Clarity Act is still progressing.
Committee Chairman French Hill stated that the House of Representatives had previously found bipartisan room for compromise on issues such as stablecoin sales, DeFi, and ethical rules, and had secured the support of 78 Democratic members for the House version of the Clarity Act. He believes the Senate has the potential to build on this foundation and reach a consensus.
He also stated that the text being discussed by the Senate incorporates elements from the House's previous proposals for FIT21 and the Clarity Act. The House is also maintaining ongoing communication with Senate negotiators.
Tokenization moves to the next agenda
Hill said the committee has turned its attention to tokenization. The House Financial Services Committee held hearings in late March to help lawmakers determine whether the Securities and Exchange Commission and banking regulators need additional authorization to more smoothly support companies in advancing the tokenization of real-world assets.
According to him, tokenizing common stock is essentially a system upgrade rather than a rewriting of the law. The legal and regulatory requirements applicable to traditional stocks can theoretically be extended to their corresponding tokenized forms. Congress currently needs to determine whether this area truly requires separate legislation or whether it can continue to be delegated to regulatory agencies within their existing jurisdictions.
Bank deposits are also under observation.
Hill also mentioned that the tokenization of commercial bank deposits is one of the areas of focus for the committee. Such arrangements could allow payments to be made directly through debit deductions, reducing intermediaries, but he stated that this is not something that will be implemented in the short term.
In his view, the bigger challenge now lies not in whether the technology can be implemented, but in how to achieve interoperability between different systems and how to meet compliance requirements. The US financial market has shifted from paper-based processes to digital systems over the past few decades, which has improved settlement efficiency and accuracy. If tokenization is to continue to advance, the key remains interoperability and compliance.
Tax issues are being addressed in parallel.
Besides tokenization, updates to digital asset tax rules are another key focus that Hill is tracking. The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee is already addressing related tax issues, and bipartisan lawmakers have reintroduced a bill specifically targeting crypto taxes this month.
He also mentioned that the 2026 elections will affect control of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and the crypto industry is expected to continue its recent level of political engagement, supporting candidates who are open to digital assets and technological innovation.
Additional information:Hill stated that if the GENIUS Act rulemaking process proceeds smoothly and the Clarity Act is passed, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission may then initiate a joint rulemaking process that will last approximately 12 months.
