暗号規制の歴史: トークン分類法からFIT21へ

先駆者: Token Taxonomy Act

In the history of United States cryptocurrency regulation, few bills have been as influential in shaping the conversation as the Token Taxonomy Act. First introduced in 2018 and re-introduced in 2019 and 2021 by Representatives Warren Davidson (R-OH) and Darren Soto (D-FL), this bipartisan legislation sought to solve the industry’s most persistent problem: the definition of a security.

The core premise of the Token Taxonomy Act was bold but simple. It proposed amending the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1940 to specifically exclude “digital tokens” from the definition of a security. The bill argued that once a network becomes decentralized, the token functions more like a currency or a commodity than a stock certificate. While the bill ultimately failed to gain enough traction to pass into law, it laid the intellectual groundwork for every major piece of crypto legislation that followed.

通過しなかった理由

• 規制当局の抵抗: 複数の政権下でSECは、既存の証券法（1946年のHoweyテストに基づく）がデジタル資産を規制するのに十分であると主張しました。
• 合意の欠如: 2019年時点で、議会はブロックチェーン技術について十分に理解していませんでした。デジタル資産に対する包括的な免除を作るという考えは、多くの議員にとってリスクが高すぎると見なされました。
• 競合する優先事項: 法案は広範な金融議論に押されがちで、後の提案に見られる包括的な市場構造規定が欠如していました。

後継者: FIT21 Act

Fast forward to 2024, and the spirit of the Token Taxonomy Act has found a new vessel: the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21). Unlike its predecessor, FIT21 achieved a historic milestone by passing the U.S. House of Representatives in 2024年5月 with significant bipartisan support.

FIT21 incorporates many of the definitions sought by Davidson and Soto but goes much further. Instead of a simple exemption, it creates a complete regulatory framework that divides jurisdiction between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

FIT21の主要条項:

• 分散化テスト: FIT21はブロックチェーンが分散化されているかを判断する正式なプロセスを導入します。ネットワークがこれらの基準を満たす場合、そのトークンはCFTCの管轄下でデジタル商品として分類されます。集中化されたままであれば、SECの管轄に留まります。これにより「Token Taxonomy」問題に直接対処します。
• 消費者保護: 法案は仲介業者（取引所）に対し、顧客資金の分別に関する厳格な規則を課し、FTXのような失敗に直接対応しています。
• 二次市場: デジタル資産が規制された二次市場で取引されるための道筋を確立し、元の2019年法案の重要な目標を実現しています。

デビッドソンとソトの遺産

Representatives Warren Davidson and Darren Soto remain two of the most active voices in the Congressional Blockchain Caucus. Their work on the Token Taxonomy Act was not in vain; it educated a generation of staffers and lawmakers on the nuance of digital assets.

Representative Davidson has since pivoted some of his focus toward privacy and the prevention of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), aiming to ban the Federal Reserve from issuing a digital dollar that could be used for surveillance. Meanwhile, the definitions they drafted years ago regarding what constitutes a “digital token” can be seen in the DNA of the FIT21 Act.

結論

The Token Taxonomy Act may be a “dead” bill in the legislative sense, but its impact is very much alive. It started the difficult work of untangling 1930s securities laws from 21st-century technology. As the U.S. moves closer to a comprehensive regulatory framework with FIT21, the industry owes a debt of gratitude to the early efforts that made the distinction between a “security” and a “token” a matter of national debate.