Live: US Senate kicks off markup of long-awaited crypto market structure bill

US lawmakers are beginning a key markup session Thursday morning on a long-awaited crypto market structure bill, marking a pivotal step in Congress’ effort to establish clearer rules for digital asset markets.

The bill has been months in the making and follows sustained pressure from the crypto industry and some lawmakers to move beyond enforcement-led regulation. Today’s session may signal how much bipartisan support remains and which provisions may face resistance as lawmakers debate the future framework for US digital asset markets.

This live blog will track key moments and reactions as the markup unfolds.

Jan. 29 4:38 pm UTC

Committee votes along party lines against ethics amendment

In a 12 to 11 vote against adopting an amendment proposed by Democratic Senator Michael Bennet, the committee chose not to incorporate ethics provisions into the crypto market structure bill. According to Bennet, the amendment was intended to prevent elected officials from profiting off the crypto industry.

Jan. 29 4:20 pm UTC

Democrats focus on ethics provisions, bipartisan solutions

Senators Adam Schiff and Elissa Slotkin, both Democrats, emphasized the need for bipartisanship in their comments to the agriculture committee, but reiterated Booker’s remarks about the need for ethics provisions. Slotkin also expressed concerns about national security and the leadership of the CFTC, where only Chair Michael Selig sits in a panel meant for five people.

“Handing over responsibility for oversight of this bill to one guy, who in his own confirmation hearing in front of our committee was very open about being very pro-crypto industry, just doesn’t give confidence that, again, we’re gonna have appropriate balanced oversight on a very new issue,” said Slotkin.

Jan. 29 4:07 pm UTC

“We do not want to be criminalizing people who are writing code,” Sen. Booker says

New Jersey Senator Cory Booker laid out some of his and Democrats’ goals for the market structure bill, including having the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and CFTC “coordinate and collaborate” on crypto rulemaking and protections for self-custody and innovative technology.

“We do not want to be criminalizing people who are writing code,” said Booker.

The senator shared his frustration over the lack of bipartisan participation in the most recent version of the bill, compared to the draft he and Boozman released in November. Booker said he had been engaging with stakeholders as recently as Wednesday evening to address provisions on decentralized finance, and took aim at US President Donald Trump’s involvement in the crypto legislation.

“The White House has made this infinitely harder […] the fact that Donald Trump is grifting on crypto himself,” said Booker, adding: “This is ridiculous that the President of the United States and his family have made billions of dollars off this industry and are still trying to make a framework here without the kind of ethics that would prevent this kind of gross corruption in our country.”

Jan. 29 3:46 pm UTC

Chair Boozman and ranking member Klobuchar give opening remarks

Committee Chair John Boozman and ranking member Amy Klobuchar addressed lawmakers before considering amendments on Thursday. According to Boozman, the committee had made “really significant progress” on the market structure bill, but noted that any efforts had to be combined with those in the Senate Banking Committee, which postponed its own markup after Coinbase said it could not support its version of the bill as written.

Klobuchar added that there had been “good” progress on the bill, but not enough to gain bipartisan support, including on provisions to prevent lawmakers from engaging with the crypto industry. Her remarks signaled that she would be pushing her amendment to have the CFTC have at least four Senate-confirmed commissioners before the market structure bill would be effective:

“We can’t give this CFTC this broad new authority when it only has one member, one Republican member.”

Jan. 29, 3:32 pm UTC

Lawmakers on the Senate Agriculture Committee expected to vote on 11 amendments

The digital asset market structure bill, called the Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act in the Senate Agriculture Committee, will be under consideration as lawmakers vote on amendments related to leadership at the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), ethics, and foreign interference in US markets. Although an amendment proposed by Senator Roger Marshall related to credit card swipe fees is still on the committee’s schedule, reports suggested that he would not push for such provisions in the bill.