The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee is pushing ahead with updated crypto market structure legislation and has scheduled a markup for January 27, even though it has failed to win Democratic support — a sign that months of bipartisan negotiations may be giving way to a more partisan path forward.
Committee Chair John Boozman released the revised bill text on Tuesday, acknowledging that lawmakers remain divided on key policy issues. Still, he thanked Senator Cory Booker for his involvement in shaping the proposal.
“Although it’s unfortunate that we couldn’t reach an agreement, I’m grateful for the collaboration that has made this legislation better,” Boozman said, confirming the markup will take place at 3 p.m. in the Russell Senate Office Building.
Banking Committee delay tightens the legislative window
The Agriculture Committee’s move comes as the Senate Banking Committee has put its own crypto market structure bill — the CLARITY Act — on hold until late February or March, according to people familiar with the matter.
Instead, the Banking panel has shifted its focus to housing legislation, following President Trump’s renewed push on affordability. The president said he is taking “immediate steps” on housing policy, calling it a core priority tied to the “American Dream.”
The delay follows a high-profile split with the crypto industry. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong recently pulled his support for the CLARITY Act, calling certain provisions “catastrophic,” particularly those limiting tokenized equities and stablecoin yield.
White House warns against waiting
That criticism drew a response from Patrick Witt, Executive Director of the White House’s Crypto Council, who warned that abandoning imperfect legislation could backfire.
“You might not love every part of the CLARITY Act,” Witt wrote, “but I can guarantee you’ll hate a future Democratic version even more,” arguing that a delay could invite stricter rules after a future crisis, similar to Dodd-Frank.
Meanwhile, speaking at Davos 2026, President Trump said he expects to sign crypto market structure legislation “very soon,” emphasizing his administration’s goal of keeping the U.S. “the crypto capital of the world.”
Democrats dig in over ethics concerns
Democratic opposition has hardened, largely around ethics issues. Senator Adam Schiff has pushed for safeguards covering the White House, while Senator Ruben Gallego has called ethics provisions a “red line” for Democratic support.
Where the bills diverge
The updated Agriculture Committee bill differs sharply from the Banking Committee’s CLARITY Act on several major issues — most notably stablecoin yield, which has become the biggest flashpoint between lawmakers and the crypto industry.
CLARITY would explicitly ban crypto platforms from paying interest simply for holding payment stablecoins, while allowing rewards tied to specific activities like transactions, loyalty programs, staking, or governance.
By contrast, the Agriculture Committee’s bill takes a lighter-touch approach, excluding “permitted payment stablecoins” from CFTC oversight altogether and leaving regulation to other frameworks, such as the GENIUS Act, rather than imposing direct yield restrictions.
The bill also takes the unusual step of explicitly classifying meme coins as digital commodities under CFTC jurisdiction, defining them as assets driven primarily by internet culture and speculative community enthusiasm.
CLARITY instead introduces the concept of “ancillary assets,” carving out exemptions for tokens tied to ETFs listed before January 1, 2026.
Developer protections and enforcement concerns
On developer protections, the Agriculture bill would create an Office of the Digital Commodity Retail Advocate within the CFTC. CLARITY proposes a different solution: a CFTC–SEC Micro-Innovation Sandbox aimed at smaller firms.
Both bills seek to shield software developers from regulation, though CLARITY’s developer safe harbor has raised concerns among lawmakers including Senators Chuck Grassley and Dick Durbin, who warned it could limit prosecutors’ ability to pursue financial crimes.
Stablecoins put banks and crypto at odds
The debate over stablecoin yield has also exposed deep tensions between crypto firms and traditional banks.
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan recently warned that up to $6 trillion in deposits — roughly a third of U.S. commercial bank deposits — could shift into stablecoins. JPMorgan CFO Jeremy Barnum described yield-bearing stablecoins as a form of “parallel banking” that lacks traditional safeguards.
Crypto firms, meanwhile, have raised their own concerns. Galaxy Digital warned that Banking’s draft could give the Treasury sweeping surveillance powers, including the ability to freeze transactions for up to 30 days without a court order.
Despite the growing friction, Armstrong said Coinbase is still seeking common ground. Speaking at Davos, he said the company plans to engage directly with bank executives to find a compromise.
“We’re going to continue working on the market structure legislation,” Armstrong said, “and meet with some of the bank CEOs to figure out how we can make this a win-win.”
