The rebooted Senate is moving forward with some crypto initiatives, but how much time is really left compared to the amount of work remaining?
You’re reading State of Crypto, a CoinDesk newsletter that examines the intersection of cryptocurrency and government. Click here to subscribe to future editions.
The story
Now that Congress is back after the government shutdown, all eyes are on how it will proceed on crypto issues. This has several elements: the appointment of Mike Selig to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, market structure legislation, and other crypto-related issues.
Why it matters
Time is running out for the crypto industry to consolidate its victories in the 2024 elections. Although the GENIUS Act was a good start for crypto companies and the Securities and Exchange Commission and CFTC continue their efforts to create new rules for the sector, the market structure bill is still far from complete. Congress has fewer than 40 days left this year and only a few months next year before it disperses for the midterm elections.
Break it down
The Senate Agriculture Committee voted 13-11 to nominate CFTC chairman nominee Mike Selig to the full Senate for a floor vote; if he gets a majority of votes, he is expected to take the oath of office shortly thereafter. This could happen in the coming weeks.
Selig said crypto is an important issue for the CFTC to address, addressing specific issues such as on-chain markets and the role of intermediaries, among others.
“The CFTC’s essential mission is to protect these markets,” he said during his hearing Wednesday. “This is a real opportunity to develop a framework that allows software developers to thrive, as new exchanges emerge that will protect investors and have the kinds of controls that you would expect from an exchange and ensure that we have the right disclosure requirements that we typically have in our financial markets.”
The Senate Banking Committee also advanced the nomination of Acting Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairman Travis Hill to be the regulator’s fully confirmed chairman in the Senate, among other nominees.
But the main event – market structure legislation – remains largely in the same public position as last week.
As reported last week, the Agriculture Committee’s new draft includes some provisions that could prove controversial, including one relating to conflicts of interest. This discussion draft will clearly see updates before the committee can do any markup and vote. The Trump family’s various crypto businesses are unlikely to leave Democratic attention, either: Senators Elizabeth Warren and Jack Reed have asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the Attorney General for information on allegations that Trump-linked company World Liberty Financial sold some of its tokens to “illicit actors,” including in sanctioned regions.
The Banking Committee may be closer to a mark-up: Although the committee hasn’t released a revised bill in some time, negotiations appear to be underway between Republicans and Democrats.
Sen. Tim Scott, who chairs the Banking Committee, said Democrats had “blocked” progress on the bill in an interview with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo earlier this week.
“Democrats have procrastinated and procrastinated and procrastinated because they don’t want President Trump to make America the crypto capital of the world,” he said. “They don’t want to give them victory. It’s not just for President Trump. It’s for the American people, single mothers like the one who raised me.”
He nevertheless said that the bill could still be submitted to the Senate in early 2026.
“Next month, we believe we can make a point in both committees and bring this to the Senate early next year, so that President Trump will sign the legislation making America the crypto capital of the world, protecting consumers while increasing the likelihood that America will be the most dominant economic power for the next 100 years,” Scott said.
Congress has a limited amount of time in the year to do anything: Lawmakers will be away next week for Thanksgiving and will only have a few weeks in December before Christmas and New Years.
- It’s the Thanksgiving holiday at the US Congress which will return next week.
If you have any ideas or questions about what I should discuss next week or any other comments you would like to share, please feel free to email me at [email protected] or find me on Bluesky @nikhileshde.bsky.social.
You can also join the group chat on Telegram.
See you next week!
