A PYMNTS Company

Cracks Appear in Senate GOP Support for Crypto Market-Structure Bill

By  |  September 11, 2025

A rush to pass a crypto market-structure bill in the Senate is exposing cracks in Republican support for the measure. Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), a member of the Banking Committee told reporters Wednesday he is not on-board with the current version of the legislation, or with the haste to get it to a vote.

    Get the Full Story

    Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content — no additional logins required.

    yesSubscribe to our daily newsletter, PYMNTS Today.

    By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.

    “I don’t think we’re ready,” he said, according to a report in Politico. “People that I talk to still have a lot of questions. I know I still have a lot of questions.”

    Kennedy’s latest comments, echoing concerns in raised at a hearing in July, put him at odds with Banking Committee chair Tim Scott (R-SC), who has vowed to pass the measure by the end of September.

    “Banking Committee Republicans believe advancing a clear, bipartisan framework for digital assets is long overdue,” a spokesman from Scott’s office told Politico. “The original Responsible Financial Innovation Act was introduced by Senators Lummis and Gillibrand in 2022, and members have been working toward a September markup since June, receiving thousands of pages of feedback and hearing from roughly 160 stakeholders. The House has already acted, and the Senate should not fall behind.”

    The House passed its version of a market-structure bill, the CLARITY act, in July. Like the House bill, the 182-page Senate version would divide oversight of crypto assets between the Securities and  Exchange Commission and Commodities Futures Trading Commission, but does not entirely parallel it. If passed as is, it would need to go back to the House for approval before it could be sent to the president’s desk.

    Related: Senate Democrats Lay Out Their Terms For Supporting a Crypto Market-Structure Bill

    Kennedy’s call to slow the legislative roll also aligns him with Democrats on the committee, who urged taking more time to thoroughly consider the bill in a letter released Tuesday.

    Kennedy voted in favor of the GENIUS stablecoin bill that was passed in July, but he drew a distinction between that measure and the market-structure bill. “As important as the GENIUS Act was, it was a baby step,” he said. “This is a full leap. And we’ve got to get it right.”

    At the July hearing, Kennedy expressed concern that the market-structure bill had been heavily influenced by the crypto industry and attracted skepticism from some experts in the financial industry.

    “Senate debate over the GOP’s market structure bill highlights deep uncertainty about regulating digital assets,” Nitesh Mishra, co-founder and CTO at hedging platform ChaiDEX, told Decrypt. While the SEC and CFTC, along with the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department, have championed opening the financial system to crypto, “traditional banks aren’t ready,” Mishra said, pointing to technology gaps and concerns over risk management and compliance.

    Rushing through sweeping reforms “will remain unrealistic and potentially risky for broader financial stability,” he said.