US Democratic senators advanced a wave of amendments to a crypto market structure bill, sharpening oversight and ethics provisions as the chamber prepares for a markup. The changes, described as largely ethics-focused, were filed ahead of the Senate Agriculture Committee’s scheduled review this week, as lawmakers seek clearer federal rules for digital assets, a defined regime of agency oversight, and greater certainty for investors and market participants.
The most notable proposal comes from Senator Michael Bennet, who has attached the Digital Asset Ethics Act to the crypto market structure legislation. The aim is to bar U.S. officials from profiting from crypto ventures or related holdings, addressing long-standing concerns about potential conflicts of interest in policy decisions that shape the sector.
Meanwhile, critics of the administration have pressed lawmakers to scrutinize potential conflicts of interest tied to the presidency. Senator Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats have raised concerns about President Donald Trump’s alleged ties to the crypto industry, including his involvement in World Liberty Financial, a platform whose growth has been cited in discussions about wealth accumulation tied to crypto interests.
CFTC should fill vacant seats before bill takes effect
In another track, Senator Amy Klobuchar proposed delaying the legislation’s implementation until the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has a full roster of commissioners. The CFTC, currently led by Chair Michael Selig, has four additional seats that remain unfilled, complicating expectations about when a comprehensive crypto regime might begin to operate. Selig, sworn in on December 22, leads a commission with no clear timeline for appointing the remaining members.
Other amendments from Senators Roger Marshall, Dick Durbin, and Peter Welch aim to broaden consumer protections and market competition. They include language drawn from the Credit Card Competition Act, intended to curb network exclusivity by credit card networks and certain card-issuing financial institutions. Proponents argue that reducing anticompetitive practices could improve transparency and lower costs for consumers and businesses operating in the digital asset ecosystem.
The push for tighter ethics rules and clearer oversight comes as the debate over the structure of crypto regulation continues to collide with broader concerns about financial stability, consumer protection, and the speed of regulatory action. The amendments reflect a growing insistence among lawmakers that any framework must address governance, conflicts of interest, and the potential for regulatory capture, even as the industry calls for predictable rules to foster innovation and investment.
The timing of the Senate markup has already been tense. The session was postponed earlier in January due to disagreements over stablecoin reward provisions and other decentralized finance safeguards, a dispute that contributed to Coinbase reportedly withdrawing support for the bill. The current round of amendments signals that lawmakers intend to press ahead with revisions that could shape the contours of U.S. crypto policy for years to come.
Snowstorm could postpone Senate markup again
Forecasts of a winter storm threatening Washington, D.C., over the weekend have raised concerns that Tuesday’s markup could be pushed back again. While weather disruptions are not unusual in Congress, the prospect of an further delay underscores the fragility of the legislative timetable for crypto legislation, which remains entangled with debates over how to regulate stablecoins and DeFi platforms while ensuring market integrity and consumer protection.
