Senators Bullish on Crypto Market Structure Law Passage Before Year-End
Washington's crypto crusade gains momentum as lawmakers push for regulatory clarity.
Legislative Breakthrough
Key senators from both parties express growing confidence that comprehensive cryptocurrency market structure legislation could cross the finish line by December. The push comes after months of committee markups and industry feedback sessions that finally produced a bipartisan framework everyone hates slightly less than the status quo.
Market Impact
Traders and institutions are positioning for potential regulatory tailwinds—because nothing makes digital assets soar like good old-fashioned government paperwork. The proposed legislation would establish clear rules for token classification, exchange operations, and consumer protections, effectively giving Wall Street firms the regulatory certainty they need to finally dump more pension fund money into volatile crypto assets.
Timeline Pressure
With congressional calendars filling up and election season looming, supporters acknowledge the narrow window for passage. They're betting that politicians' desire to appear tech-savvy will outweigh their usual instinct to postpone difficult decisions—though if history's any guide, they'll probably just form another study committee instead.
Ethics concerns
A group of Senate Democrats published a list of priorities they wanted to see included in any market structure bill, ranging from consumer protections to regulators' jurisdictions.
"What it allows for is an understanding that this is going to be bipartisan," Gillibrand said, adding that Democrats may have different perspectives on issues like on- and off-ramps for decentralized finance and consumer protections.
One of the Democrats' pillars would, if implemented, bar lawmakers including the president and vice president's families from profiting off of crypto projects. Gillibrand said it was important to have an ethics component to prevent any appearance of self-dealing or breaches of the Emoluments Clause.
"I think it's important to have this lens of ethics," Gillibrand said. "It's something that really undermines the entire industry."
However, she added that at this point in the negotiations process, there was no "line in the sand" for Democrats. "It's very important to me and I'd like to get the best ethics provision that's possible."
Lummis, speaking after the panel, said she WOULD rather see any effort to restrict crypto trading by elected officials be its own separate effort, and potentially combined with securities and other investments, because she argued that cryptocurrencies shouldn't warrant distinct treatment.
"I think that we're going to have to have a dialogue with Democrats who are concerned about this president and future presidents' participation," she said.
