Senate | Crypto

Some Republicans’ initial plans to have crypto market structure out of committee by November have been sidetracked by the government shutdown. The shutdown of the US government entered its 38th day on Friday, with the Senate set to vote on a funding bill that could temporarily restore operations. According to the US Senate’s calendar of business on Friday, the chamber will consider a House of Representatives continuing resolution to fund the government. It’s unclear whether the bill will cross the 60-vote threshold needed to pass in the Senate after numerous failed attempts in the previous weeks. Amid the shutdown, Republican and Democratic lawmakers have reportedly continued discussions on the digital asset market structure bill. The legislation, passed as the CLARITY Act in the House in July and referred to as the Responsible Financial Innovation Act in the Senate, is expected to provide a comprehensive regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies in the US.  Read more

The provision in the National Defense Authorization Act could create even more economic pain for the crypto mining industry if passed. The US Senate has advanced sweeping AI legislation under the National Defense Authorization Act, compelling chipmakers to serve US customers first before exporting advanced processors abroad. On Thursday, senators passed the Guaranteeing Access and Innovation for National Artificial Intelligence Act of 2026, or GAIN Act, as an amendment to National Defense Authorization Act, requiring AI and high-performance chipmakers to prioritize domestic orders before exporting their products. The GAIN Act also gives Congress the right to deny export licenses for the most high-end AI processors and mandates export licenses for all products containing an “advanced integrated circuit.”  “Over the past several years, US firms have faced regular backlogs in purchasing chips. In late 2024, Nvidia’s Blackwell line was booked out roughly 12 months ahead,” according to policy advocacy group “Ameri...

As the Treasury’s Under Secretary for Domestic Finance, Jonathan McKernan can influence policies on banking and a US digital dollar. A majority of lawmakers in the US Senate voted to confirm Jonathan McKernan as Under Secretary for Domestic Finance at the Department of the Treasury. In a Tuesday vote of 51 to 47, the Senate confirmed McKernan to the US Treasury, serving under Secretary Scott Bessent. Though the US government has been shut down since lawmakers failed to pass a bill extending funding beyond Sept. 30, Congress can essentially continue to operate. McKernan, nominated to the Treasury by US President Donald Trump in June, has previously suggested opposition to debanking policies in the government, but did not explicitly tie the alleged practice to any association with digital assets. In a December X post, he cited an article from economist Tyler Cowen questioning whether the US banking system could “integrate with crypto.” Read more

Stephen Miran has made few public statements on crypto or blockchain, but signaled in interviews before joining the Trump administration that he would support digital assets. The US Senate Banking Committee has advanced the nomination of Stephen Miran to a temporary position on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors after another member resigned in August.  In a Wednesday meeting, the banking committee voted along party lines, 13 to 11, to advance Miran’s nomination to the full Senate for consideration. All Democrats voted against the potential Fed governor, while Republicans, in the majority, voted in favor. Miran, whom President Donald Trump picked to chair the Council of Economic Advisors in December, said during a hearing last week that he would not resign from his role advising the White House if his time as a Fed governor were extended past January. If confirmed, he would fill a term vacated by Fed member Adriana Kugler, ending on Jan. 31.   Read more

The US Senate has added a provision to its crypto bill confirming that tokenized stocks remain securities, preserving their fit within existing financial frameworks. The US Senate updated its crypto market structure bill on Friday, adding a key provision to clarify how tokenized assets are regulated. The new clause would ensure that stocks and other securities remain classified as securities when tokenized on a blockchain, avoiding potential confusion over whether they should fall under commodities regulation. The distinction is important for digital asset firms working on tokenization. Stocks are already regulated as securities. When tokenized, keeping them as securities confirms they stay compatible with broker-dealer frameworks, clearing systems and trading platforms. Read more

Coinbase, Kraken, Ripple, a16z and others pressed the Senate to add explicit protections for developers and non-custodial services in the market structure bill. A coalition of 112 crypto companies, investors and advocacy groups has called on the US Senate to include protections for software developers and non-custodial service providers in upcoming market structure legislation. A letter sent Wednesday to the Senate Banking and Agriculture Committees, authored by the DeFi Education Fund and its coalition partners, said the industry spoke “with one voice,” urging lawmakers to ensure developers and non-custodial actors are not misclassified as intermediaries under outdated financial rules. “Provide robust, nationwide protections for software developers and non-custodial service providers in market structure legislation,” the letter said. “Without such protections, we cannot support a market structure bill.” Read more

The former Ohio senator’s 2024 race against Bernie Moreno, whose campaign was bolstered by money from the crypto industry, was one of the most expensive in the state’s history. Former Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, who lost his US Senate seat in 2024 to Republican Bernie Moreno amid more than $40 million in spending backed by the crypto industry, has launched an election bid for 2026. In a Saturday notice, Brown said he will run for Republican Senator Jon Husted’s seat in the 2026 US midterm elections — Moreno, who defeated Brown in 2024, won’t be up for reelection until 2030. The former senator, who was one of the more outspoken voices on crypto in the previous session of Congress, lost to Moreno with more than 46% of the vote after a digital asset-backed political action committee (PAC) spent more than $40 million in media buys. Read more

Ripple Labs has urged the US Senate to revise its proposed crypto legislation, warning that the current draft introduces more confusion than clarity. The blockchain firm submitted its response on Aug. 5, addressing concerns about regulatory overreach and vague definitions that could stifle innovation across the digital asset space. The comments come in response to […] The post Ripple warns Senate draft could put ETH, SOL, XRP under SEC oversight forever appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Days after a crypto market structure bill passed the House with bipartisan support, the Senate introduced its own version of the legislation. Here's what's in it.

The Senate Agriculture Committee will consider President Donald Trump’s nominee for chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Brian Quintenz, as lawmakers weigh a broader shift in crypto regulation that could dramatically expand the agency’s role. The committee is scheduled to review Quintenz’s nomination during a July 21 hearing, ahead of a full Senate vote […] The post Lawmakers to review Trump’s CFTC chair nominee ahead of full Senate vote appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The Senate Agriculture Committee will hear from prospective CFTC chair Brian Quintenz, who could be the sole commissioner at the US regulator by the end of 2025. Brian Quintenz, US President Donald Trump’s pick to chair the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), is scheduled to appear before lawmakers as his nomination moves forward in the Senate. His role could expand significantly if current legislation shifting crypto oversight to the agency becomes law. The Senate Agriculture Committee will hold a meeting to consider Quintenz’s nomination before a potential floor vote on Monday. The meeting will follow a hearing held by the committee in June, marking the first step in his nomination since Trump announced it in February.  The committee meeting will come as the Senate is expected to consider the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act following passage in the House of Representatives on Thursday. Read more

Jonathan Gould will return to the OCC as Comptroller of the Currency to serve a five-year term following his nomination by US President Donald Trump. Jonathan Gould, who previously worked as the chief legal officer of blockchain infrastructure company Bitfury, has been confirmed as the head of the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) following a Senate vote. In a 50-45 vote in the US Senate on Thursday, a majority of lawmakers voted to confirm Gould to head the banking regulator. In addition to his work at Bitfury, Gould is a partner at the Cleveland-based law firm Jones Day and served as the OCC’s senior deputy comptroller and chief counsel from 2018 to 2021. Gould’s nomination was the latest from US President Donald Trump to be addressed by the Senate since the president took office in January. The chamber has previously voted to confirm Trump’s pick to head the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Paul Atkins, and is expected to take up a vote for Brian Quintenz to chair the Commodity Futur...

The hearing will come after the US Senate passed legislation to address stablecoin regulation and Republican House leadership said they would handle three bills starting on Monday. As the United States Congress weighs key legislation that could reshape the regulatory framework for digital assets, top crypto executives, policy advocates and former regulators are set to testify before the Senate Banking Committee. On Wednesday, lawmakers with the US Senate Banking Committee will hear from Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) member and Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger, former CFTC Chair Timothy Massad, Chainalysis CEO Jonathan Levin, and others to address digital asset markets. The hearing will mark one of the first times US lawmakers could offer a preview of how the Senate will handle a crypto market structure bill after its leadership said it aimed to pass legislation by October. Read more

Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis had proposed that the legislation address double taxation for cryptocurrency miners and stakers. Republicans in the US Senate narrowly passed a budget reconciliation bill strongly pushed by President Donald Trump and heavily criticized by many members of both parties for concerns about healthcare cuts, artificial intelligence regulation and redistribution of wealth through tax cuts. In a 50-50 vote on Tuesday after more than 24 hours in session, the Senate passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” with Vice President JD Vance acting as the tiebreaker. All Democrats in the chamber and three Republicans voted against the legislation, with many proposing amendments to address concerns around AI regulation and funding to rural hospitals. Amid debate on the bill, Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis suggested she would add a provision to address what she called “unfair tax treatment” of cryptocurrency miners and stakers. However, her proposed changes to the bill did not appear in amendments ...

The digital assets subcommittee in the Senate will hold a Tuesday hearing to discuss a bipartisan effort to establish a crypto market structure. Roughly a week after the US Senate voted to pass the GENIUS Act to regulate payment stablecoins, the chamber is moving to discuss a path forward for a digital asset market structure framework. On Tuesday, lawmakers in the Senate Banking Committee’s digital asset subcommittee will hear from lawyers at Coinbase and Multicoin Capital as part of efforts to establish “bipartisan legislative frameworks for digital asset market structure.” The hearing will include testimony from Coinbase’s vice president of legal, Ryan VanGrack, Multicoin Capital’s general counsel, Greg Xethalis and University of Pennsylvania Wharton School Executive Director,Sarah Hammer. Read more

The US Senate voted to pass the GENIUS Act, a bill regulating stablecoins, but observers believe lawmakers may have ignored stability concerns in Treasury markets. The US crypto industry is celebrating as the GENIUS Act, a framework for stablecoin regulation, was passed in the US Senate on June 17. The bill passed 68-30 in a bipartisan effort, roughly six weeks after Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty introduced it to the Senate. It will now head to the House of Representatives, where Congress must reconcile it with the House’s own STABLE Act, which also seeks to regulate stablecoins. The act holds a number of provisions, from rules for issuers, Anti-Money Laundering measures and mandatory 1:1 backing of stablecoins with reserves like US dollars and short-term Treasury securities. Read more

The Senate approved the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act in a 51-23 vote on June 17, sending the measure to the House for consideration. The vote followed a 68-30 cloture decision on June 11 that cut off debate and started the mandatory 30-hour countdown to the final roll call. Senator […] The post US Senate approves landmark GENIUS Act for stablecoin regulation appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The bill passed without amendments to address Donald Trump’s connections to World Liberty Financial’s stablecoin, which many Democrats had been calling for. The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, or GENIUS Act, is one step closer to becoming law in the US after the US Senate voted to pass an amended version of the bill. In a Tuesday vote of 68-30, a majority of the US Senate chose to pass the GENIUS Act roughly six weeks after Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty introduced the legislation. The bill’s companion, the STABLE Act, may be considered in the House of Representatives next, where it could face additional proposals for amendments. “With this bill, the United States is one step closer to becoming the global leader in crypto,” said Hagerty from the Senate floor before the Tuesday vote, adding: “Once the GENIUS Act is law, businesses of all sizes, and Americans across the country will be able to settle payments nearly instantaneously rather than waiting for days or sometimes even ...

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated on June 17 that stablecoins could cut federal borrowing costs and slow debt growth if Congress sends the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act to the president.  In an X post, he pointed to research projecting a $3.7 trillion stablecoin market by 2030 and argued that […] The post Treasury Secretary Bessent says stablecoins are debt relief engine as Senate readies to vote on GENIUS Act appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Though concerns about the Trump family’s connections to World Liberty Financial’s stablecoin shadowed debate on the GENIUS Act, the bill is closer to passing the Senate. Lawmakers in the US Senate are scheduled to consider a vote on the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, or GENIUS Act, after a majority chose to invoke cloture for the bill. According to a Thursday notice from Senate Democrats, the full chamber will vote on the GENIUS Act on Tuesday, June 17. The floor vote will follow senators proposing a variety of amendments to the bill, including one to address elected officials and their families potentially profiting through connections to the crypto industry. Read more