H.R. 5496: Clarity for Digital Tokens Act of 2021

117th Congress · introduced 2021-10-05 · Finance and Financial Sector · Latest: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2021-10-05 · official record
Who proposed it: Rep. McHenry, Patrick T. [R-NC-10] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Clarity for Digital Tokens Act of 2021

Plain summary

Clarity for Digital Tokens Act of 2021 This bill excludes certain offerings of digital tokens (i.e., a digital representation of value or rights recorded on a publicly available ledger) from securities registrations. The exclusion from securities registration is in effect until the later of 3 years from the date of the first sale of a token or 3 years after the effective date of the bill. During this exclusionary period, the initial development team of a token must disclose every 6 months details of the network—the system of connected devices that create and validate the ledger of transactions. This includes disclosure of the source code, the transaction history, the economics of the token, the plan to achieve network maturity, prior token sales, information regarding the team, trading platforms used, and certain material transactions. On or before the end of this period, the team must report to the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the maturity of the network. Network maturity is reached either through decentralization of the network or through network functionality, as specified by the bill. If network maturity is not reached within 3 years, the initial development team must register the tokens as a security.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Clarity for Digital Tokens Act of 2021

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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The strongest published arguments

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. McHenry, Patrick T. [R-NC-10] · 3 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Warren Davidson (R-OH), Ted Budd (R-NC)

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (2)

Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Securities: Financial investments that can be bought and sold, such as stocks and bonds.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-117hr5496.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/117/hr>

Record fed-us-cong117-hr5496 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong117 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong117