The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee voted Thursday in favor of legislation that would create a national regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, but the strictly partisan outcome raised doubts about the measure’s ability to survive a vote by the full Senate, according to Reuters.
The proposed bill would give new oversight powers to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, allowing it to regulate cryptocurrency spot markets and set standards for digital commodities exchanges, brokers and dealers. Supporters argue it would bring much-needed clarity to an industry that has long operated in a legal gray area, according to Reuters.
While the Agriculture Committee has advanced its version, the Senate Banking Committee’s progress has been more difficult. That group is working on related legislation that has become the center of an intense lobbying battle between banks and crypto companies over whether companies issuing dollar-backed stablecoins should be allowed to pay interest to customers, according to Reuters. This dispute has slowed momentum for a broader crypto market structure bill.
The crypto industry has made passing such legislation a top priority, saying it is essential to maintaining U.S. competitiveness and providing legal certainty for companies operating in the sector. To support this effort, the industry has spent heavily during the 2024 election cycle to support candidates seen as pro-digital assets, according to Reuters. The House of Representatives approved its own version of the bill in July.
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Despite this progress, the path to the Senate remains difficult. The legislation would need the support of at least seven Democrats to clear the House and be sent to President Donald Trump for possible approval, according to Reuters. Several Democrats have expressed concern, arguing that the bill lacks safeguards to prevent elected officials from personally benefiting from crypto projects.
None of the Democrats on the Agriculture Committee supported advancing the measure. Sen. Cory Booker, the panel’s top Democrat, said he was disappointed that discussions of decentralized finance had not been incorporated into the bill. “We’re almost in the red zone on this bill, and that frustrates me, because I see a bipartisan trajectory to land this plane, to get through the end zone,” Booker said before the vote, according to Reuters.
In an effort to break the impasse, the White House plans to hold a meeting with banking and cryptocurrency industry executives on Monday to explore how the legislation could advance in the Senate Banking Committee, which has yet to vote on its version of the bill, according to Reuters.
