US Senate Banking Committee Pushes Back Crypto Market Structure Legislation Until “Early” 2026

The US Senate Banking Committee pushed back markup hearings on crypto market legislation to 2026 even after lawmakers had hoped for a hearing some time this week.

A spokesperson for Senate Banking chair Tim Scott confirmed in a Monday statement that the committee will not hold a market structure markup this year, noting that Scott wants the effort to be bipartisan.

“Chairman Scott and the Senate Banking Committee have made strong progress with Democratic counterparts on bipartisan digital asset market structure legislation,” the spokesperson said.

“He has consistently and patiently engaged in good-faith discussions to produce a strong bipartisan product that provides clarity for the digital asset industry and also makes America the crypto capital of the world,” he added. 

The spokesperson then said that the committee will pick up where it left off after the holiday break and “looks forward to a markup in early 2026.” 

Democrats Still Have Some Concerns About The Legislation, Mainly Due To Trump’s Crypto Interests

The market structure bill that US lawmakers are working on aims to remove jurisdictional confusion between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). 

More specifically, the legislation seeks to designate the CFTC a primary spot market regulator for crypto while also more clearly defining how securities laws might apply to the sector. 

The Banking Committee oversees the SEC, and has produced several drafts for the legislation. Meanwhile, the Senate Agriculture Committee, which oversees the CFTC, has only produced one discussion draft so far. It will also need to hold its own markup hearing. 

There has been back and forth between Democrats and Republicans regarding the legislation. Some of the main points of concern for Democrats relate to financial stability, market integrity, and ethics. 

That last point of concern is largely due to US President Donald Trump and his family’s growing involvement in the digital asset space. 

In addition to launching meme coins at the beginning of the year, the Trumps are also linked to the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform World Liberty Financial. The family is involved in the stablecoin, Bitcoin mining, and prediction market sectors as well.

Overall, the Trump family has managed to boost its wealth to the tune of billions of dollars through crypto this year. 

Lawmakers have repeatedly voiced their concerns about Trump being involved in crypto, given his ability to influence policy. Among them is Senator Elizabeth Warren, who has accused the President of lining his own pockets through crypto.

Not Clear How Long Senate Banking Committee Will Take With Crypto Market Structure Bill Negotiations

While Scott’s spokesperson said that the committee plans to resume negotiations for the crypto market structure legislation “early” next year, it remains unclear how long the negotiations will take. 

That’s mainly due to the fact that Congress’s main focus next month will be on funding the US government after it returns from the holiday break. The current funding bill is set to expire on Jan. 30. 

That funding bill came after the US government entered the longest shutdown in history. Assuming the government does not shut down again at the end of January, lawmakers will still have a limited amount of time to work on the crypto market structure legislation before the midterm elections next year become a top priority. 

While the delay of the crypto market structure bill was expected by many, the digital asset market dipped on the confirmed postponement. In the past 24 hours, the total crypto market cap plunged over 4%, data from CoinMarketCap shows. 

Crypto market overview (Source: CoinMarketCap)

During the past day of trading, market leaders Bitcoin and Ethereum also dropped over 4% and 6%, respectively.