Senate Banking Chair Announces Major Progress on Landmark Crypto Legislation
Crypto's Regulatory Waters Are About to Get a Whole Lot Clearer
After years of regulatory fog, Washington is finally moving the needle. The Senate Banking Committee chair just dropped a bombshell: landmark crypto legislation has hit a major milestone. We're talking about the kind of framework that could define the next decade of digital finance.
The Path from Chaos to Clarity
Forget the patchwork of state rules and regulatory turf wars. This push aims to cut through the noise. It bypasses the old guard's hesitation and targets a unified national standard—something the industry has begged for since Bitcoin was a niche hobby.
Why This Time Is Different
Market meltdowns and trillion-dollar valuations have a way of focusing political minds. The pressure's on to move from reactive enforcement to proactive rules. This isn't about stifling innovation; it's about providing the guardrails that let builders floor it. (Take that, Wall Street traditionalists who still think blockchain is just a fancy ledger.)
The Real-World Ripple Effect
Clear rules mean institutional capital stops dipping its toe and starts diving in. It means startups can build without fearing a regulatory axe. It legitimizes an asset class that, let's be honest, has spent too long in the financial wild west.
The Bottom Line
Progress in D.C. often moves at glacial speed—except when it doesn't. This update signals a critical shift from theoretical debate to tangible lawmaking. The door to mainstream, regulated crypto adoption just creaked open a little wider. Now we see if the industry walks through without tripping over its own hype.
The Senate is making progress on a major crypto bill
On Thursday, the South Carolina Republican met with Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, Citi CEO Jane Fraser, and Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf.
The team discussed the landmark legislation, which aims to establish comprehensive rules for the digital asset industry and assign regulatory authority to bodies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
“We are making real progress toward passing digital asset market structure legislation that will help cement America’s role as the crypto capital of the world,” Scott said in a statement on Thursday. “For months, my colleagues and I on the Senate Banking Committee have received valuable feedback from across the banking and crypto industries.”
The three banking CEOs were scheduled to meet with senators this week to discuss proposed legislation regarding cryptocurrencies.
According to a source familiar with the meetings, two separate meetings, one with Democrats and another with Republicans, were called “cordial.” The discussions covered topics including yield, decentralised finance, and anti-money laundering concerns, among others, according to the person familiar.
Banks raise concerns about gaps in the GENIUS Act
Yield-generating crypto assets, particularly stablecoins, have been a significant obstacle to passing a comprehensive crypto market structure bill.
Banking associations argue that the stablecoin bill passed last summer, known as the GENIUS Act, has gaps that need to be addressed. They argue that the law’s limits on stablecoin issuers paying interest to holders are too weak, which could make these assets more attractive as stores of value and credit instruments than as payment tools, potentially creating “distorting market incentives” for banks, they said. The groups also contend that the GENIUS Act’s restrictions can be easily circumvented by exchanges, brokers, and other affiliated entities.
Lawmakers are rushing to pass a bill regulating the crypto industry into law. Over the summer, the House passed its version of a market structure bill, known as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, or Clarity for short, with bipartisan support.
The Senate has since begun efforts to pass a comparable bill. Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott’s panel has drafted legislation that aims to divide regulatory authority between the SEC and the CFTC, introducing a new category called “ancillary assets” to clarify which cryptocurrencies are not considered securities. Meanwhile, the Senate Agriculture Committee released its own bill last month, which WOULD expand the CFTC’s authority. Both committee drafts would need to be reconciled before moving forward.
In the past few days, Democratic and Republican senators have met to negotiate certain provisions of the bill, but the talks appear shaky. Some lawmakers are seeking to advance the bill and MOVE it through the Senate Banking Committee before the end of the year, but it remains unclear whether this will happen.
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