Update (Jan. 15, 4:46 am UTC): This article has been updated to add more information and history regarding the Senate’s bill.
The US Senate Banking Committee has postponed its markup of a crypto market structure bill originally slated for Thursday, citing the need for further talks.
Committee Chairman Tim Scott said in an emailed statement late on Wednesday local time in Washington, DC, that the committee is postponing its markup of the crypto bill to continue bipartisan negotiations to garner support.
“I’ve spoken with leaders across the crypto industry, the financial sector, and my Democratic and Republican colleagues, and everyone remains at the table working in good faith,” said Scott.
“This bill reflects months of serious bipartisan negotiations and real input from innovators, investors, and law enforcement,” he added. “The goal is to deliver clear rules of the road that protect consumers, strengthen our national security, and ensure the future of finance is built in the United States.”
Source: Tim ScottScott did not disclose when the markup would be rescheduled. The delay comes after the Senate Agriculture Committee on Monday punted its markup of the crypto bill to Jan. 27, which was originally also slated for Thursday.
Republican Senate Ag Chairman John Boozman said the committee has “made meaningful progress and had constructive discussions,” but needed to “finalize the remaining details and ensure the broad support this legislation requires.”
The bill, which the crypto industry is highly anticipating, would define how the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission would police the crypto market.
The House passed a version of the bill, called the CLARITY Act, in July, but procedural rules mean both the Senate Banking and Agriculture Committees need to advance the bill, as they respectively oversee the SEC and CFTC.
Crypto divided over Senate bill
The crypto industry is divided over a version of the bill the Banking Committee released on Monday, which would limit stablecoin payments by third-party platforms, such as crypto exchanges.
The bill included a provision limiting stablecoin yield activity-based payments. The GENIUS Act banned stablecoin issuers from being able to pay yield, but many exchanges give a payment to users holding stablecoins on their platforms.
Related: Senator Lummis says delay likely for market structure bill
Bank industry lobbyists have for months pressured Congress to ban third-party stablecoin yield payments such as those from exchanges, arguing that it puts banks at risk of deposit runs and is creating an alternative banking system.
Coinbase, a major crypto lobbyist, pulled its support for the Senate’s bill earlier on Wednesday, with CEO Brian Armstrong saying it “would be materially worse than the current status quo” and the exchange would rather have “no bill than a bad bill.”
Armstrong said the bill puts a “de facto ban” on tokenized equities, has onerous restrictions on decentralized finance, and grants the government “unlimited access” to financial records, raising serious privacy risks for consumers.
Several major crypto firms and lobby groups, including Coin Center, a16z, The Digital Chamber, Kraken, and Ripple, have backed the Senate’s bill.
Magazine: How crypto laws changed in 2025 — and how they’ll change in 2026
Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-senate-banking-cancels-thursday-crypto-bill-markup-for-negotiations?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound
