It’s safe to say that housing – most Americans’ largest monthly expense – is now eliminating crypto from the legislative calendar.
Summary
- Lawmakers are delaying digital asset legislation until late February/March to focus on housing costs linked to Trump’s affordability agenda.
- The executive order targets large institutional investors who buy single-family homes, although they own less than 1% of the shares.
- Cardano’s Hoskinson warns of ‘good enough’ rules; Ripple’s Garlinghouse favors pragmatic and progressive regulation.
According to Bloomberg, the Senate Banking Committee is expected to delay consideration of sweeping crypto market legislation until late February or March.
Lawmakers are instead turning to housing affordability in an effort to control costs ahead of this year’s congressional elections.
The crypto delay comes after the committee already postponed action last week, raising new doubts about whether a comprehensive market structure bill will soon clear Congress.
Last month, President Donald Trump called the “affordability” issue a Democratic hoax.
and top officials have repeatedly touted crypto as a policy priority, inflation-sensitive voters appear far more concerned about mortgage payments than memecoins. Still, lawmakers have begun considering legislation aligned with Trump’s recent executive order banning institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes.
Institutional investors, or Wall Street, own less than 1% of single-family homes in the United States, according to some estimates, leaving open the question of how much this policy will actually change prices. Still, housing costs are widely seen as a liability after Republicans lost several key elections late last year.
What about cryptography?
Meanwhile, the crypto bill pause gives more room for tensions in the industry. The legislation aims to clarify the regulatory scope between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission – an issue both agencies say only Congress can resolve. Progress stalled further last week after Coinbase Global Inc. withdrew its support, opening the door to further lobbying from financial and crypto players.
The Senate Agriculture Committee, which also has jurisdiction, is moving forward. He plans to release his version of the digital assets legislation later Wednesday and could vote on Jan. 27, setting up a possible merger with the Banking Committee’s bill before any full Senate vote.
Outside of Congress, the delay has fueled a public feud within crypto itself. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson sharply criticized Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse for supporting what Hoskinson called a flawed market structure bill, warning that “good enough” regulation could become permanent – and permanently damaging.
Garlinghouse, by contrast, argued that “clarity beats chaos,” praising lawmakers for advancing what he sees as workable frameworks that can be improved upon during markup.
Hoskinson flatly rejected that logic, scoffing at the idea that a bad bill is better than nothing and warning that once the rules are set, overturning them could take years.
The conflict highlights a deeper divide: should crypto accept imperfect regulation now to gain certainty, or resist to avoid rules that could favor banks and other incumbents over decentralized finance? For now, crypto waits — while Congress worries about housing and the industry debates whether compromise is progress or capitulation.
