New crypto bill

Senators get ready to roll out a new crypto bill

Senate GOP leaders are still working on getting a separate stablecoin bill passed in the coming days.

Jasper Goodman

Pro-cryptocurrency senators expect to introduce landmark legislation that would divvy up oversight of digital assets between market regulators this month, Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) said Tuesday, signaling that the upper chamber will soon ramp up the next phase of its push to pass industry-friendly crypto measures.

House Republicans have already introduced a so-called market structure bill, which will be the focus of two separate hearings on Wednesday in the lower chamber’s Financial Services and Agriculture committees. The panels share jurisdiction over the legislation because it would divide crypto oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission, overseen by House Financial Services and Senate Banking, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, overseen by Congress’ Agriculture committees.

Lummis said Tuesday the Senate’s product is “going to look very much like the House bill.”

“We want to be bipartisan and bicameral,” she said in an interview. “We’ll probably tweak it a smidge and run it by Sen. [Kirsten] Gillibrand and see if we can introduce it on a bipartisan basis over here.”

Senate Banking’s crypto subcommittee is expected to hold a hearing focused on market structure later this month, Lummis said.

The ramp-up on market structure comes as the Senate is trying to pass a separate, more narrow crypto bill that would create new rules for digital assets known as stablecoins that are pegged to the dollar.

Senate GOP leaders are still searching for an agreement on amendments that would allow the chamber to move ahead with a vote on final passage in the coming days.