Overview
- The Senate Banking Committee confirmed there will be no 2025 markup of the market-structure bill and said it is targeting early 2026, with the Senate Agriculture Committee still needing its own markup before any reconciliation.
- Negotiations remain stuck on core issues including how to divide SEC and CFTC oversight, the treatment of DeFi, consumer and market-integrity safeguards, and ethics provisions linked to President Donald Trump’s crypto ties.
- Industry and finance leaders met Wednesday with Chair Tim Scott, with attendees including Coinbase, Kraken, Chainlink, the Blockchain Association, the DeFi Education Fund, Goldman Sachs and SIFMA, as lawmakers seek to refine language before talks pause for the holiday recess.
- Markets fell on the confirmed delay, with reported declines of more than 4% in total crypto market value and drops in Bitcoin and Ethereum of roughly 4% and 6%, respectively.
- Regulators are filling some gaps in the meantime, with the SEC issuing staff guidance and hosting roundtables, the CFTC permitting licensed spot trading and granting targeted no‑action relief, and banking agencies signaling stablecoin prudential standards work tied to the GENIUS Act; analysts at Macquarie still see a plausible path to a compromise framework by early to mid‑2026.