Overview
- The Senate Banking Committee confirmed it will not hold a 2025 markup on digital asset market structure legislation and now targets early 2026, while the Senate Agriculture Committee still must schedule its own markup after releasing a single discussion draft.
- Current drafts would assign the CFTC a primary role over spot crypto markets and clarify when securities laws apply, but disputes persist over jurisdiction, decentralized finance, and Democratic concerns about financial stability, market integrity, and ethics tied to President Trump’s crypto interests.
- Key industry and finance figures, including executives from Coinbase, Kraken and Chainlink, advocacy groups, and firms such as Goldman Sachs and SIFMA, met Wednesday with Chair Tim Scott as bipartisan negotiations continue without final text.
- In the absence of a statute, regulators are shaping practice: the SEC has issued staff guidance and held roundtables, and the CFTC has opened supervised access for licensed institutions to trade spot crypto and granted targeted no‑action relief.
- The confirmed delay extended regulatory uncertainty and pressured prices, with major tokens falling and total crypto market capitalization declining following the announcement, as lawmakers also face a Jan. 30 funding deadline that will squeeze early‑2026 floor time.