Paradigm Exec Reveals: Crypto Market Structure Bill Faces Years-Long Rollout Timeline

Don't hold your breath for regulatory clarity—the rulebook for crypto's future might be stuck in legislative limbo for years.

The Long Game of Regulation

A key player from investment giant Paradigm just dropped a reality check. That landmark crypto market structure bill everyone's watching? It could take years, not months, to actually hit the streets. Think glacial pace, not light speed. This isn't about a quick regulatory patch; it's a complete overhaul of the financial rulebook, and those take time—sometimes a painfully long time.

Why the Marathon, Not a Sprint?

Building consensus in a divided political arena is like herding cats. Then there's the nitty-gritty: drafting technical rules, staffing up agencies, and building the actual enforcement muscle. Each step is a potential bottleneck. The industry wants certainty yesterday, but Washington operates on a different calendar—one where 'soon' can mean multiple election cycles.

The Innovation vs. Bureaucracy Standoff

Here's the tension: tech evolves at a breakneck pace, while regulation moves with the urgency of a congressional hearing. This gap creates a wild west period where builders are left guessing. Do they innovate and risk future non-compliance, or pause and cede ground? It's a classic innovator's dilemma, fueled by political theater. (After all, what's finance without a little performative bureaucracy?)

The bottom line? The path to a mature, regulated crypto market is a marathon filled with hurdles. The starting gun fired, but the finish line is still years away. Buckle up.

Slaughter raises concerns about the current rulemaking process 

Concerning the bill’s fate, sources close to the situation who wished to remain anonymous as the talks were private noted that even if the bill secures approval from both the House of Representatives and the Senate and then the US president signs the bill into law, Slaughter still anticipated that it is likely to take about two presidential terms for the effective implementation of all the rules.

To clarify this point, the sources referenced the crypto policy executive’s recent post on X, in which he stated that “45 rulemakings [are] required in this bill alone,” suggesting that “the process of putting this bill into effect will likely extend beyond this presidential term and probably into the next one.”

Analysts comment on the situation, emphasizing that the crypto industry has been awaiting straightforward regulations from lawmakers for a long time.

Meanwhile, it is worth noting that for a rule to be successfully executed, rulemaking processes require the collaboration of several regulators and agencies assigned to analyze laws that legislators have approved. 

Other activities that can be included in this process include publishing proposed regulations, collecting feedback from the public, and establishing final regulations that are legally effective. Notably, these final regulations require a significant amount of time.

In a statement, Slaughter stated that, “Based on my experience, the Dodd-Frank Act is still not complete today, and most of the rules that aren’t from the CFTC were finalized between 2013 and 2018, which was 3 to 8 years after it was passed.” 

Slaughter claims to be optimistic about the crypto structure bill

Slaughter earlier asserted that it is essential for the crypto market structure bill to be approved before any other rule is established. However, he still insisted that this process is time-consuming.

Regarding the markup scheduled for Thursday, the crypto policy executive mentioned that he will be paying close attention to see if there will be a collaborative approach from both parties or if things might take a different turn. 

Nonetheless, he acknowledged that he had never seen a crucial bill become a law without initially encountering some challenges. Even with this assertion, Slaughter expressed Optimism concerning the fate of the crypto market structure bill.

In the meantime, several analysts stated that they agree with Slaughter’s argument that rulemaking is time-consuming. To support this claim, they issued an example of a bill that took time to be implemented as a law. In this example, the analysts claimed that the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was considered a crucial financial reform in the United States. 

It was implemented on July 21, 2010, under the leadership of President Barack Obama, following the significant financial crisis that occurred in 2008. According to their research, agencies took several years to establish rules that ultimately led to positive changes in the market.

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