Following the Senate Banking Committee's December 15 announcement postponing markup on its cryptocurrency market structure bill, Chairman Tim Scott's office has confirmed no action before the 2025 holiday break, with bipartisan talks targeting early 2026. New hurdles include DeFi definitions, stablecoin yields, agency bipartisanship, and ethics rules tied to President Trump, even as the House advances a companion bill.
The delay, first reported last week, underscores time pressures from potential government shutdowns (funding deadline January 30), midterm election dynamics, and unresolved sticking points that could derail bipartisan support.
Key challenges persist: Democrats like Sen. Mark Warner push for anti-money laundering safeguards in DeFi, questioning federal blacklisting powers, while industry seeks light-touch regulation. Stablecoin yield treatments, bipartisan commissioners at the SEC and CFTC, and ethics provisions targeting Trump's family crypto ties remain contentious. Sen. Cynthia Lummis noted negotiations on ethics, but the White House dismissed proposals. Trump himself remarked on reluctance to appoint Democrats, citing reciprocity.
Observers view the postponement positively: "It's better that there was no markup... to get both sides to a compromise where the markup would have been bipartisan." A flawed DeFi definition now could complicate fixes later.
The House's strong bipartisan passage of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act provides a template, but the Senate's dual Banking and Agriculture committees require reconciliation. White House Crypto Czar David Sacks signaled a possible January markup, per Sens. Scott and John Boozman, though April is a critical floor deadline.
