U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee Set to Unveil Draft Revisions to Crypto Market Structure Bill

The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee is expected to soon release draft revisions to legislation governing crypto-asset market structure. Still, analysts say it remains unclear whether the bill has sufficient legislative momentum, amid disagreements over DeFi regulation, conflicts of interest, and stablecoin provisions.

According to Cointelegraph on the 21st (local time), Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman said the committee plans to publish revisions to the Digital Asset Markets Clarity Act (CLARITY Act) before the end of business that day. The committee is also scheduled to hold a markup hearing on the bill next Tuesday.

The Agriculture Committee is one of two Senate committees reviewing market-structure legislation for crypto assets. While a draft was released in early November last year, the timetable for discussions was recently disrupted after Coinbase withdrew its support for the bill in the Senate Banking Committee. Some expect this could also affect the Agriculture Committee’s schedule.

Some Senate Democrats argue the bill should include additional provisions regulating DeFi. Combined with language addressing potential conflicts of interest and concerns over stablecoin reward structures, it is still uncertain whether the bill has secured enough political backing to clear the committee.

For now, it is not clear how the Banking Committee’s delayed markup will affect deliberations in the Agriculture Committee. In the Senate, there is a view that the bill will need approval from both the Banking Committee, which oversees securities regulation, and the Agriculture Committee, which oversees commodities regulation, before it can proceed to a floor vote.

President Donald Trump has said he plans to sign a crypto market structure bill “soon,” speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Switzerland on the 21st. However, there are also concerns that as the political calendar intensifies ahead of the November midterm elections, it could constrain progress on the legislation. Republicans are expected to need cooperation from some Democratic lawmakers to pass the bill.