Two Senate committees—Banking and Agriculture—need to agree on a crypto market structure bill, and Ag’s ranking Democrat outlined several areas for editing.
On Tuesday, the Senate Agriculture Committee joined Congress’ negotiation over crypto’s market structure legislation with a hearing. Its ranking Democrat, Senator Amy Klobuchar, outlined significant changes she wants to see before she embraces the effort to set up digital asset regulations.
As the House potentially nears passage of its own market structure bill in the Digital Asset Markets Clarity Act (despite a procedural delay on Tuesday), Klobuchar’s committee will need to sign off on its own legislation. Any major changes she and other Democrats are willing to pursue as a party could stretch the legislative process much longer than the Sept. 30 deadline Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott set.
Klobuchar Pushes for Major Changes to Protect Consumers
“We’re not going to be rolled here,” Klobuchar warned. She called for “some serious changes” to the regulatory proposals currently under discussion for U.S. crypto.
The bill, she suggested, needs to better nail down how to fund regulators who will oversee the rapidly growing new markets. It should strongly protect consumers and close off loopholes “you could drive a truck through,” as these could undermine existing securities regulations.
The committee’s Republican chairman, John Boozman, highlighted collaboration with the Banking Committee and regulators. So far, the other committee is outpacing his in working on legislation. Republicans there have publicly released a set of principles they’re following on the bill, though they haven’t yet released a working draft.
“We must act expeditiously to develop a comprehensive regulatory framework for the trading of digital commodities, but we must ensure we get this right,”
Boozman said.
While the Democrats are not in charge, they will need many of their votes to clear the Senate’s 60-vote hurdle for most legislation. Senator Elizabeth Warren, Klobuchar’s Democrat counterpart in the Senate Banking Committee, has also expressed similar policy desires, though crypto-critic Warren will likely not become a partner in the negotiation. Klobuchar’s panel, though, has historically been more collaborative than Warren’s.
On the major Senate vote on stablecoin legislation, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, Klobuchar cast a “no” vote. The crypto advocacy group Stand With Crypto has given Klobuchar an “F” rating for being against the industry.
