The U.S. Senate Banking Committee will not hold additional hearings on market structure legislation defining how federal regulators can oversee the industry until next year, awaiting a hoped-for hearing that many were seeking to hold near the end of this week.
A committee spokesperson said in a statement Monday that “Chairman (Tim) Scott and the Senate Banking Committee have made great progress with their Democratic counterparts” on the bill, but that lawmakers were still negotiating.
While the delay was expected, it’s still a blow to the crypto industry, which had wanted to at least see a markup hearing, in the absence of more substantial progress toward a sweeping new law hoped for in 2025. It’s unclear how quickly lawmakers might resume negotiations in the new year.
Congress’ main concern will be funding the U.S. government after returning from vacation, since the current funding bill expires on January 30. Assuming the government doesn’t shut down again, lawmakers will still have limited time to work on market structure before next year’s midterm elections become their top priority.
“From the beginning, Chairman Scott has made it clear that this effort must be bipartisan,” the committee spokesperson said. “He has consistently and patiently engaged in good faith discussions to produce a strong bipartisan product that brings clarity to the digital assets sector and also establishes America as the crypto capital of the world. The Committee continues to negotiate and looks forward to an increase in early 2026.”
The Market Structure Bill aims to define how the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission can oversee crypto markets, designating the CFTC as the primary spot market regulator for crypto and more clearly defining how securities laws could apply to the sector.
The Banking Committee, which oversees the SEC, has produced several drafts, while the Senate Agriculture Committee, which oversees the CFTC, has produced one discussion draft so far and will also have to hold its own hearing on the markup.
Democrats’ sticking points include concerns about financial stability, market integrity, and ethics — the latter part largely a response to President Donald Trump and his family’s various crypto-related ventures, which have increased his family’s fortune to the tune of billions of dollars.
Although the bill is delayed, the SEC and CFTC have both begun working to become more industry-friendly regulators. The SEC has released a number of staff statements and held roundtable discussions – including one as recently as Monday – to discuss how securities laws might apply to various facets of crypto. Meanwhile, the CFTC has decided to begin allowing institutions it has licensed to engage in spot crypto trading, and last week it granted a no-action waiver to prediction market operators regarding certain data requirements.
Not everyone sees this delay as bad news. Lindsay Fraser, policy director at the Blockchain Association, said the delay signals strong bipartisan involvement rather than a decline in the effort.
“Pushing back market structure legislation until next year reflects the depth of ongoing bipartisan engagement — not a loss of momentum. Lawmakers on both sides are actively working on the details to ensure the final framework is sustainable, consumer- and innovation-friendly, and this kind of serious policymaking takes time,” Fraser told CoinDesk.
“The progress we have seen at this Congress puts the industry in a strong position to achieve this in early 2026,” Fraser added.
Ji Hun Kim, CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation, praised the ongoing bipartisan efforts of lawmakers and staff to address the thorny challenges of market structure, while emphasizing the need for a full-fledged regulatory framework.
“Establishing a comprehensive market structure framework is critical to protecting consumers and ensuring innovation remains rooted in the United States, and we look forward to the next steps in early 2026 to complete the work,” Kim said.
December 16, 05:00 UTC: Adds comments from the Blockchain Association and the Crypto Council for Innovation.
Read more: US Market Structure Bill Could Slide Until January As Negotiations Continue On Several Points
