Late Wednesday the Senate Banking Committee delayed markup of a bipartisan crypto market bill while talks continued. Chair Tim Scott said he had spoken with industry, regulators, and law enforcement and called negotiations “good faith.”
The draft divides oversight between the SEC and the CFTC and sets a federal framework for digital assets. If enacted, it would become the first comprehensive federal statute defining crypto market structure.
An earlier vote by the Senate Agriculture Committee was also delayed until late January. Those overlapping pauses mean the bill cannot advance until both panels finish markups (Ed. note: the process now extends beyond initial timelines).
Industry pushback has grown in recent days. Coinbase withdrew support, citing unresolved concerns about developer activity and user access, while Galaxy Research warned parts of the draft could broaden surveillance powers and compared those changes to post-9/11 expansions.
Critics say the 278-page draft pulls more of the user-facing crypto experience into regulatory scope. “Consumers adopt digital money for speed and clarity, so any framework that widens monitoring and control at the access layer has real trust consequences,” said Jonathan Inglis.
Some analysts see upside if the bill passes. Gerry O’Shea, head of global market insights at Hashdex, said passage could boost altcoins, adding “That’s probably, in my opinion, at least the biggest catalyst for altcoins this year,” and “Still, I’m only giving it about a 60% chance of passing at this point.”
