One or both Senate committees working on crypto market structure legislation plan to hold key hearings and votes next week.
You’re reading State of Crypto, a CoinDesk newsletter looking at the intersection of cryptocurrency and government. Click here to sign up for future editions.
The narrative
Next week could get complicated. Senators Tim Scott and John Boozman, respectively the chairs of the Banking and Agriculture Committees, intend to hold markup hearings and votes on crypto market structure legislation, even as lawmakers continue to hammer out key details of the bill.
Why it matters
The crypto industry has spent the last year desperately hoping to get crypto market structure legislation across the finish line. Progress stalled out last year amid the longest government shutdown in U.S. history but as 2025 closed, the White House said there would be a markup in January 2026. It is now January 2026.
Breaking it down
The Senate Banking Committee confirmed late Friday that it would hold a markup hearing next Thursday, January 15, and vote on its version of the crypto market structure bill. The Senate Agriculture Committee intends to hold a hearing the same day, though it has not formally announced it would do so yet (due to that committee’s rules, we may not see a formal notice until Wednesday).
What we have not seen as of press time are updated draft bills. The Banking Committee said it plans to circulate its updated text on Monday, with amendments due by Tuesday. The Agriculture Committee is continuing to work on its draft while addressing Democrats’ concerns, an individual familiar told CoinDesk.
There are a few different ways next week could play out. In no particular order, and without pretending that this is the complete list of options:
- Republicans and Democrats negotiating bill text could come to a bipartisan agreement where everyone is happy, leading to a relatively smooth markup hearing and a bipartisan vote.
- Negotiators get most of what they want, leading to a few sparks during the markup but ultimately a bipartisan vote of some sort advancing the bill.
- Negotiators get most of what they want but we still see a drawn out, fiery markup hearing.
- Negotiators don’t make much more progress than what we saw last week and the markup is extremely fiery.
- The markup may just not happen because negotiators are too far apart on key issues like whether President Donald Trump’s family can profit off of its crypto interests or whether regulatory agencies can be helmed by partisan commissions.
There are other possibilities as well.
Republicans possess the majority in the Senate, meaning they could advance the bill out of the Banking Committee on a party-line vote. However, doing so would make passage out of the overall Senate more difficult, as the bill needs 60 votes — meaning at least seven Democrats would need to vote with every Republican to advance the bill. In other words, a bipartisan bill would be the easiest way to ensure bipartisan passage.
Outstanding issues, at least as of the start of this week, include Democrats’ ongoing concerns around ethics, how decentralized finance (DeFi) will be regulated, how yield will be addressed and whether or not the president will nominate bipartisan commissioners to helm the regulatory agencies overseeing crypto.
To further complicate things, the crypto industry itself is still pushing for developer protections while pushing lawmakers to avoid modifying stablecoin yield provisions.
For further reading:
Senate Republicans race toward crypto vote on bill with uncertain Democratic buy-in
Crypto crowd could still walk away from U.S. market structure bill if DeFi needs unmet
This is what’s (currently) in the way of U.S. crypto market structure bill harmony
Senate Agriculture Committee to follow Banking panel in crypto vote next week: report
DeFi, ethics disputes remain in Senate crypto bill ahead of Jan. 15 vote
Crypto bill markup expected next week as pressure mounts before shutdown deadline
Thursday
- The Senate Banking and Agriculture Committees have both indicated they intend to hold markup hearings and votes on their respective market structure bills. The Banking Committee’s is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. ET.
If you’ve got thoughts or questions on what I should discuss next week or any other feedback you’d like to share, feel free to email me at nik@coindesk.com or find me on Bluesky @nikhileshde.bsky.social.
You can also join the group conversation on Telegram.
See ya’ll next week!
