Congressional panels have advanced nominations for regulators who will handle crypto, but the full Senate has yet to confirm them. We also lack time to structure the market.
PS: I will be in Washington, DC for the Blockchain Association’s annual summit. I would like to say hello if you are there.
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
Two weeks ago, this newsletter examined how time is running out for the crypto industry to secure legislative victories in 2025. Now, with December in full swing and the House and Senate in their final two weeks of scheduled work, it’s time to take stock of what remains to be done.
Why it matters
We have seen regulatory agencies take steps since last month to further advance crypto efforts. However, Congress remains in a strange state of limbo.
Break it down
The biggest question remains when Congress can make further progress on market structure legislation. It is clear at this point that this bill – whatever the final text – will not become law until next year at the earliest.
What’s less clear is whether the drafts we’ve seen will even go to a markup hearing before January. The Senate Banking Committee was considering Dec. 18 as a tentative date to amend its version, but negotiations over the text of the bill appear to be ongoing. Same with the Senate Agriculture Committee; its members have not made any public statement on their version of the market structure bill since the publication of the first version of the text a few weeks ago.
The Senate is making more visible progress in nominating President Donald Trump’s nominees to head the CFTC and FDIC. Mike Selig and Travis Hill are both working on a Senate resolution intended to allow that congressional body to confirm nearly 100 nominees at a time. A vote was supposed to take place this week, but it did not happen; The Senate is now expected to vote on this resolution next week.
This week
- The Senate will vote on a resolution to confirm, among others, CFTC chairman nominee Mike Selig and FDIC chairman nominee Travis Hill.
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!
