Congress Revives Major Crypto Bill to Set Clear Rules for Digital Assets in the U.S.
Washington's playing catch-up—and the crypto markets are watching every move.
The Regulatory Reset
Lawmakers are dusting off legislation that could finally draw bright lines around digital assets. No more guessing games for exchanges or token issuers. The bill aims to slice through the regulatory fog that's left projects navigating between the SEC and CFTC like a high-stakes game of bureaucratic ping-pong.
Why This Time's Different
Previous attempts fizzled amid partisan gridlock and jurisdictional turf wars. Now? Mounting pressure from institutional investors and a growing retail constituency are forcing action. Even traditional finance giants—those same firms that once dismissed crypto as a fringe experiment—are demanding clarity before diving deeper into digital asset custody and trading.
The Stakes for Markets
Clear rules mean reduced regulatory risk premiums. That translates to more capital flowing in, fewer legal surprises, and potentially smoother sailing for innovation. Projects won't need to structure themselves as contortionists just to avoid becoming a regulator's enforcement target du jour.
The Fine Print Matters
The devil will be in the definitions. What exactly qualifies as a security versus a commodity? How will decentralized protocols be treated? The answers will determine whether this framework fosters growth or becomes another compliance maze—the kind Wall Street lawyers adore billing hours to navigate.
One cynical take? The same institutions that lobbied for years to keep crypto in the regulatory shadows now want rules—mostly to box out smaller competitors who can't afford seven-figure compliance teams. Classic finance: first ignore, then regulate, then consolidate.
If Congress gets this right, it could unlock the next phase of digital asset adoption. Get it wrong, and the innovation migrates elsewhere—leaving U.S. investors watching from the sidelines.
Lawmakers will fight over stablecoins, DeFi, and Trump-linked profits
Three issues are guaranteed to cause problems this week. First, stablecoin rewards. Second, the treatment of DeFi platforms and their developers. Third, whether elected officials like President Donald TRUMP should be banned from making money off crypto while in office. Trump-linked groups have already launched both a memecoin and NFTs.
Cody Carbone, head of the Digital Chamber, said the stablecoin reward issue is the “biggest outstanding issue” on Capitol Hill. He said, “Stablecoin rewards, interest, yields, whatever you want to call it, will be addressed in the bill. Both Republicans and Democrats have come to that conclusion.”
Earlier this year, the Community Bankers Council from the American Bankers Association told senators that stablecoin firms are offering rewards in a way that dodges rules from the GENIUS Act, which passed last year.
That law bans dollar-linked tokens from offering yields, but these new schemes are slipping through the cracks and competing with traditional savings accounts.
On the DeFi side, people are worried that coders and developers will get punished when others use their tools for crimes like money laundering. Amanda Tuminelli, the top lawyer at the DeFi Education Fund, said they are “very conscious of how illicit finance is treated in the bill,” but want to make sure that obligations “aren’t put on codes instead of person.”
She said the goal is to protect developers from being blamed when their tools are misused.DeFi supporters also want the bill to give people the right to hold their own crypto, without needing a third party.
They’re pushing for language from the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act that WOULD let software developers and service providers off the hook if they don’t control or hold customer funds.
Senate expected to merge committee drafts and push to vote before midterms
The Senate Agriculture and Banking Committees are supposed to finish their parts and release updated drafts this Thursday. After that, the two sections will be merged into one full version of the market structure bill. That combined bill will head to the Senate floor.
Lawmakers expect this process to drag out for several weeks before it even has a shot at becoming law.
Senator Elizabeth Warren and some of her colleagues want the final draft to include strict rules banning public officials from profiting off crypto while they’re in office. Summer Mersinger from the Blockchain Association said this was dropped in the House, but the Senate is “not going to punt on this issue.”
She also warned that time is running out. With the 2026 midterm elections coming fast, lawmakers might lose key allies. “There’s a lot of other priorities Congress has on the books for this year,” Mersinger said. “This is kind of the key window that they see to get something to MOVE out of committee onto the floor and have the time that’s needed to get it done.”
Supporters of the bill know they’re in a race. If this doesn’t pass before November, everything could fall apart. With so much riding on it, and both parties still clashing over key parts, the future of crypto in America is hanging by a thread.
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