Lawmakers Plan Crucial Meeting on Crypto Market Structure Bill

Senator John Boozman is set to meet White House crypto advisor David Sacks and Senator Cory Booker to finalize a draft. While there is still some optimism among sponsors like Senator Cynthia Lummis, the legislative timeline is increasingly uncertain due to the political gridlock. At the same time, the UK is moving to align its stablecoin regulations with the US, with Bank of England Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden confirming plans to release a consultation paper on Nov. 10.

Crypto Bill Back in Focus?

Discussions over the long-awaited US digital asset market structure bill are continuing despite the ongoing government shutdown—which is the longest in the country’s history. The legislation is widely seen as one of the most consequential efforts to define the regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, but it is still in limbo as lawmakers juggle competing priorities and political tensions.

According to a report from Politico, Senator John Boozman, a Republican member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, is expected to hold talks with White House crypto and AI advisor David Sacks and Democratic Senator Cory Booker to help finalize a discussion draft of the bill. The Agriculture Committee, along with the Senate Banking Committee, plays a key role in shaping the legislation before it can move to a full Senate vote.

Report from Politico

The bill originally passed by the House of Representatives in July, and was expected to pass the Senate with bipartisan support. However, progress slowed due to disagreements over how decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols should be regulated, coupled with the disruption caused by the government shutdown. 

Many lawmakers shifted their focus to reopening the government and restoring operations at key financial regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), both of which have been forced to scale back activity due to staff issues.

Despite the delay, several senators are still optimistic. Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, who is one of the bill’s co-sponsors, told Bloomberg that bipartisan negotiations are ongoing and productive. “We’re working at the staff level every single day to get the votes necessary in committee,” she said, and described the talks as “granular” but “tremendously” progressive.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis

Still, the timeline seems more and more uncertain. Senator Thom Tillis recently warned that lawmakers have only until early 2026 to pass meaningful crypto legislation before the 2026 midterm election cycle complicates the process. Patrick Witt, the executive director of President Donald Trump’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, acknowledged that the shutdown created both challenges and opportunities. While lawmakers have more time to discuss the bill, the absence of agency staff deprived them of critical technical input.

With political divisions hardening and the shutdown dragging on, the path forward for the digital asset market structure bill is unclear.

UK to Match US on Stablecoin Policy

Meanwhile, Bank of England Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden said the UK intends to move in lockstep with the United States on stablecoin regulation, due to the importance of alignment between the two nations as they shape rules for the $310 billion sector. 

At the SALT conference in London on Wednesday, Breeden said the UK will implement its stablecoin regulatory framework “just as quickly as the US,” and countered fears that Britain is falling behind after the US passed its landmark GENIUS Act in July. She added that the Bank of England is in active discussions with the Federal Reserve and other US financial authorities as it prepares to release its own stablecoin consultation paper on Nov. 10.

“I’ve been talking to the Federal Reserve,” Breeden said. “The regulators over there and our finance ministries are working together.” Her remarks once again shed some light on the growing transatlantic cooperation on digital asset oversight, which was previously mentioned during a September meeting between UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The two officials agreed to deepen collaboration on crypto and stablecoin regulation.

Breeden’s comments were made amid mounting pressure from UK crypto advocacy groups that have criticized the government’s cautious stance, and argued that it has hindered innovation and left the country trailing behind global peers. The Bank of England also faced backlash for proposing caps on individual stablecoin holdings between £10,000 and £20,000, which lobby groups claimed would be costly and difficult to enforce.

The UK’s renewed focus on stablecoins is also similar to developments in Canada, where the government this week announced plans to regulate fiat-backed issuers, mandating adequate reserves and robust risk management frameworks as part of its modernization of the nation’s payments system.

Meanwhile, institutional adoption of stablecoins continues to gain momentum, with major financial players including Western Union, SWIFT, MoneyGram, and Zelle either integrating or exploring stablecoin-based payment systems.