U.S. Senate Hits the Pause Button on Crypto Market Structure Bill, Why the Delay Again?

The U.S. Senate has confirmed that proceedings on the crypto market structure bill will continue next year. This comes despite calls that the bill will be finalized before 2026.

Senate Puts Crypto Market Structure Bill on Hold for Next Year

According to reports, the United States Senate Banking Committee has stated that it will not schedule a hearing on the crypto market structure bill before the end of this year. This means that it will be pushed to 2026. This has dashed hopes of passage by senators in the final days before the start of the holidays.

A source from the committee has stated that the negotiations between Chairman Tim Scott and the Democrats are in good progress. This comes after the statements made by Chairman Scott a while back this month. He stated that the committee could consider a markup on the 17th or 18th December.

Even if the delay was not unexpected, the sector was hoping that even the introduction of a markup for the crypto market structure bill would mean progress following years of regulatory limbo. 

This comes at a difficult time on Capitol Hill. When the Congress comes back from the holiday recess, its first priority would be avoiding a shutdown of the federal government. The current bill authorizing government spending is set to expire on January 30.

Even if talks restart soon, lawmakers have a short amount of time to work with. As time goes on, the focus will necessarily shift to midterm elections, where major bills will become more difficult to pass.

What Makes This Bill So Critical?

The crypto market structure bill would seek to define how federal agencies oversee digital assets. It would also outline the respective roles of the SEC and the CFTC. It would then designate the CFTC as the primary regulator of spot crypto markets, while outlining how securities laws apply.

The Senate Banking Committee has circulated various drafts, and the Senate Agriculture Committee has issued one discussion draft. Senate Agriculture still needs to hold its own markup of the bill.

Senate leadership says the effort is far from dead despite the delay. The committee adds that Scott has, from the beginning, made it clear that such a bill must be bipartisan.

“From the outset, Chairman Scott has made clear that this effort should be bipartisan. He has constantly and patiently entered into good-faith discussions to produce a strong bipartisan product that gives clarity for the digital asset industry,” a spokesperson said.

Committee officials have said that talks have been ongoing and that leaders will make announcements with updates in early 2026. However, they did not create a date for this event.

Meanwhile, the SEC has issued guidelines and carried out several public discussions on the application of the existing laws that regulate various kinds of crypto transactions.