Key Highlights
- More than 120 organizations backed a joint call for the Senate Banking Committee to move ahead with market structure markup.
- The coalition highlighted stablecoin rewards, SEC-CFTC lines, and developer protections as core priorities.
- The push lands after Senate Banking’s January markup was delayed as bipartisan talks continued.
Blockchain Association, the Crypto Council for Innovation, and a broader coalition of more than 120 organizations have urged the U.S. Senate Banking Committee to move forward with a markup on digital asset market structure legislation, in the latest sign that crypto lobby groups are trying to restart momentum around a bill that has been stuck in negotiations for months.
In the April 23 push, the coalition argued that Washington now needs a durable federal framework for digital assets, not just piecemeal regulatory action. The message from the industry was straightforward: agency guidance may help at the margins, but Congress still needs to deliver rules that give market participants clarity and keep digital asset innovation anchored in the U.S.
The letter’s policy asks were also telling. The coalition flagged priorities including preserving consumer rewards tied to payment stablecoins, drawing clearer oversight lines between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and protecting developers and service providers building decentralized technologies. It also pointed to the need for stronger disclosure standards and clearer token certification processes as tokenized financial products continue to evolve.
Senate Talks Still Haven’t Fully Recovered
The pressure campaign comes against the backdrop of a stalled Senate process. On Jan. 9, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott announced that the committee would mark up comprehensive digital asset market structure legislation on Jan. 15. But one day before that session, Scott said the markup would be postponed as bipartisan negotiations continued.
That January draft was a major step because it sought to define when crypto tokens should be treated as securities or commodities and would have expanded the CFTC’s authority over spot crypto markets. But it also intensified one of the biggest fault lines in the debate: how far lawmakers should go in restricting rewards or interest tied to stablecoins.
Banks have argued that interest-bearing stablecoin products could pull deposits away from the traditional banking system and create financial stability risks. Crypto firms, on the other hand, have said broad restrictions would choke off consumer choice and protect incumbents rather than users. That clash has been central to the legislative slowdown ever since.
Why This Letter Matters
The timing of the coalition’s appeal suggests the industry wants Senate Banking to shift from closed-door negotiation back into formal legislative process. That is especially important now because the House already passed its version of market structure legislation in July, while the Senate side remains bogged down by unresolved compromises.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent added to that pressure earlier this month, urging Congress to pass a digital asset market structure bill and warning that regulatory uncertainty has already pushed development and investment toward jurisdictions with clearer frameworks.
For the crypto industry, Thursday’s letter is less a fresh argument than a reminder that patience is thinning. The Senate has already shown it can get close. What trade groups now want is for lawmakers to stop circling the same issues and finally put the bill back on the markup calendar.
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