US Senate Majority Leader John Thune stated that crypto market structure legislation is unlikely to advance before April. The chamber plans to prioritize a voter registration bill next week. In a separate move, senators voted to include a temporary ban on a Federal Reserve CBDC in a housing bill.
US Senate Majority Leader John Thune reportedly said he does not expect the chamber to move forward with digital asset market structure legislation before April. He said the Senate planned to prioritize voting on the SAVE America Act, a bill requiring in-person proof of citizenship for voter registration.
Thune addressed reporters on Thursday, saying the bill would go to the chamber next week. He stated lawmakers would then focus on the crypto market structure bill and other bipartisan bills.
“Market structure is a bill that’s, I’m hoping, going to come out of the Banking Committee soon, probably not before, I would say, the April time period,” said Thune. This statement contrasted with comments from Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno, who in February hoped the bill would pass by April.
The Senate Agriculture Committee already advanced its version of the bill. However, the Senate Banking Committee postponed a January markup necessary to combine the legislation before a floor vote.
In a separate action, the Senate voted to include an amendment in a housing bill prohibiting the US Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency. If passed and signed into law, the CBDC ban would remain in effect until December 2030.
The market structure legislation, called the CLARITY Act in the House, aims to give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission more authority over digital assets. Many lawmakers in the Senate have been at odds with key provisions, including tokenized equities and stablecoin yield.
Last week, US President Donald Trump accused banks of holding the bill “hostage” on social media. The White House held three meetings between crypto and banking industry representatives, but it remained unclear if an agreement to advance the bill had been reached.
