Headline: Senate crypto market-structure bill edges closer as negotiators say they've found a compromise
Key U.S. crypto negotiators said Wednesday that they have likely reached the critical compromises needed to move a long-awaited market-structure bill out of the Senate Banking Committee — a major step toward federal clarity for digital-asset markets.
“We think we’ve got it,” said Senator Cynthia Lummis (R‑Wyo.), chairwoman of the Senate Banking Committee’s digital assets subcommittee, at the Digital Chamber’s DC Blockchain Summit. Lummis said the committee expects to try to advance the bill in April after lawmakers return from the Easter recess.
What’s happening
- The legislation under negotiation centers on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, a priority for the crypto industry that aims to set clearer rules for market behavior, platforms and financial products tied to digital assets.
- Negotiations stalled earlier after bank lobbyists raised alarms that some stablecoin rewards programs could present competition to deposit products. That fight interrupted an earlier compromise and forced negotiators back to the table.
- A central sticking point has been whether and how crypto platforms can advertise or structure stablecoin rewards programs. Lummis said the compromise will bar platforms from using language or structures that sound like bank deposit yield or tie rewards directly to the amount of assets a user holds. “Anything that sounds like banking product terminology will not appear,” she said.
Industry pushback and concessions
- Lummis said she has not seen the final text but noted Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has been “really pretty good about being willing to give on this issue.” Coinbase — which has leaned into stablecoin rewards — had opposed an earlier compromise that helped derail talks.
- Senator Bernie Moreno (R‑Ohio) said two colleagues, Democrat Angela Alsobrooks and Republican Thom Tillis, are in the final stage of the stablecoin talks along with the White House. Once they sign off, “it’s go time” for the bill, Moreno said.
Other unresolved items — and fixes
- Lummis said prior disagreements over language around the security treatment of decentralized finance (DeFi) have been resolved.
- But Democrats are pushing for an ethics provision that would bar senior government officials from personally profiting off the crypto industry — an idea Democrats say is aimed at preventing conflicts for senior officials, including President Donald Trump. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D‑N.Y.), who often partners with Lummis on crypto legislation, urged that this restriction be included, saying it would “unlock many more votes” from Democrats.
Where the bill stands in the process
- Lummis suggested the banking committee could hold a markup — the committee-level vote to approve bill text — in late April. If the bill passes the Banking Committee, it would join a version already approved by the Senate Agriculture Committee earlier this year. The next step would be reconciling committee versions into a single text that could face a full Senate vote.
- That schedule is not guaranteed. Both parties are jockeying over other legislation and the U.S. response to the war in Iran could seize floor time. The 2026 session will also be shortened by the run-up to the midterm elections.
A firm deadline
- Despite the calendar risks, Lummis sounded determined: “We’re going to have this thing done, come hell or high water, before the end of the year.”
Updates (March 18, 2026)
- 15:18 UTC: Adds comments from Senator Bernie Moreno.
- 16:28 UTC: Adds comments from Senator Kirsten Gillibrand on the bill’s proposed ethics provision.
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