Us Crypto Market Structure Bill In Limbo As Industry Pulls Support
The crypto market structure bill in the US Senate has been delayed amid disagreements among lawmakers and influential cryptocurrency companies.
Lawmakers and crypto industry bigwigs have hit an impasse over the crypto market structure bill that had been making its way through the Senate. Now the future of the bill is uncertain as legislators go back to the drawing board.
The initial goal had been to pass the landmark crypto legislation by September 2025. The deadline came and went, prompting a revised target of the end of the year.
Just two weeks into 2026, the Senate has canceled a crucial markup vote to define language and other parameters of the bill. Major industry groups have also withdrawn their support.
With lawmakers and crypto industry representatives still at loggerheads over critical issues within the bill, the timeline for a comprehensive crypto law has stretched even further.
On Thursday, the US Senate Banking Committee postponed a markup hearing, a crucial opportunity for legislators to debate a bill and discuss possible changes.
Chairman Tim Scott, a Republican senator from South Carolina, said that the break was simply a “brief pause.” He said he’d “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.”
Scott did not say when the next markup session would be. But the cancellation comes just days after the Senate Agriculture Committee, another group tasked with reviewing the legislation, postponed its own markup session to Jan. 27.
On Tuesday, Scott published a list of “myths” about the bill, refuting claims that the legislation was written by the crypto industry and designed to serve its interests. “The bill has been shaped by years of bipartisan work, extensive engagement with regulators and law enforcement, and a focus on public-interest outcomes,” Republican lawmakers claimed.
Still, just two days later, Coinbase withdrew its support, after which the committee scrapped plans for markup. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said there are “too many issues” with the bill as written, namely:
Source: CoinTelegraph
