A major crypto market bill could be delayed for weeks in the US Senate.
The delay stems from a shift in focus by lawmakers on the Senate Banking Committee toward housing affordability legislation, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday (Jan. 21), citing sources familiar with the matter.
The bill was already delayed last week, but its consideration will now likely be pushed back to late February or March, sources told Bloomberg.
The delay comes as the Trump administration seeks to ban large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes.
Lawmakers are considering legislation to support the effort, according to one of the sources. Bloomberg notes that these investors only own a portion of the nation’s single-family homes, meaning it’s unclear what impact such a bill could have on the cost of housing.
The report adds that the pivot to housing raises new questions about the viability of the Senate’s crypto market structure bill.
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Supporters of the legislation say it better defines the roles of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in regulating cryptocurrencies. Work on the bill by the banking committee was halted last week when Coinbase withdrew its support.
Bloomberg notes that the Senate Agriculture Committee will also have a say on any legislation, having released its own version of digital assets legislation, with markup scheduled for January 27. The plan was released without the support of Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), which the report calls a sign of possible problems.
“While differences remain on fundamental policy issues, this bill builds on our bipartisan discussion plan while incorporating stakeholder input and represents months of work,” Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman said in a statement to Bloomberg.
Writing about the legislation last week, PYMNTS argued that the friction surrounding the crypto bill is not limited to digital asset companies and regulators; it also reflects long-standing tensions between the crypto industry and the traditional banking world.
“Banks are increasingly lobbying against crypto offerings that resemble deposit products, particularly stablecoin rewards that they believe compete with regulated interest accounts,” the report said.
“This banking pushback has seeped into the legislative text, giving rise to provisions aimed at limiting crypto incentives, which have been a key flashpoint for Coinbase and other developers of stablecoin-based products.”
