House Ag Committee Pushes Crypto Market Bill Forward—More Regulatory Showdowns Looming

Washington’s latest crypto tango begins: The House Agriculture Committee just fast-tracked a market structure bill, setting the stage for another regulatory cage match. Meanwhile, half a dozen other digital asset proposals gather dust—because nothing says ''efficient government'' like letting lawmakers argue about blockchain while markets move at light speed.

Key takeaways:

- The bill clears its first hurdle, but the real fight starts when it hits the floor

- Crypto’s regulatory purgatory continues as other proposals stall

- TradFi lobbyists already sharpening their knives (and checkbooks)

Bottom line: Every committee vote buys time for crypto to keep building—while traditional finance plays catch-up between golf outings and bailout requests.

GENIUS Act

While the House moves forward on the Clarity Act, the Senate is nearing a potential final vote this week on the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins of 2025" (GENIUS) Act, which would erect guardrails for the issuance of U.S. stablecoins, the dollar-based tokens that underpin a wide swath of crypto trading.

Majority Leader John Thune, the Senate''s top Republican who has recently joined the effort to push forward the stablecoin legislation, made a procedural MOVE on Monday to soon advance to a final vote. Industry insiders are preparing for a vote as soon as Wednesday.

Jaret Seiberg, a policy analyst at TD Cowen, said in a note to clients that Thune''s move meant a "limit what amendments can be considered before a final vote on the package," including making it difficult for the backers of unrelated credit-card legislation to use the stablecoin bill as leverage to force consideration of their own effort. That was one of the final potential roadblocks to Senate advancement on the bill, which has already drawn strong bipartisan votes as it moved through the process in that chamber of Congress.

The legislation''s sponsor, Senator Bill Hagerty, had made it clear that the bill faces a very tight window for adoption this year, considering what else is on the Senate''s plate. The GENIUS Act was on the Senate''s floor agenda for Tuesday, with a 2:30 p.m. amendment deadline.

If the GENIUS Act passes the Senate, it''ll head to the House, where a similar stablecoin bill already awaits, having cleared its committee hurdles. At that point, lawmakers will have to decide their strategy on how to proceed, whether to include the stablecoin matter alongside the market structure bill as a single package, whether the House can just take up the Senate''s bill as written or whether the House will seek to hash out its own version.