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Senate Committee Advances Crypto Regulation Bill, but Partisan Split Raises Doubts

By  |  January 29, 2026

The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee voted on Thursday to push forward legislation that would create a nationwide regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, but the strictly party-line outcome raised doubts about whether the measure can survive a vote by the full Senate, according to Reuters.

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    The proposed bill would hand new oversight powers to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, allowing it to regulate spot cryptocurrency markets and set standards for digital commodity exchanges, brokers and dealers. Supporters argue this would bring much-needed clarity to a sector that has long operated in a legal gray area, per Reuters.

    While the Agriculture Committee advanced its version, progress in the Senate Banking Committee has been more difficult. That panel is working on related legislation that has become the center of an intense lobbying battle between banks and crypto companies over whether firms issuing dollar-backed stablecoins should be allowed to pay interest to customers, according to Reuters. This dispute has slowed momentum for a broader crypto market structure bill.

    The crypto industry has made passage of such legislation a top priority, saying it is essential to keeping the United States competitive and providing legal certainty for companies operating in the sector. To support that effort, the industry spent heavily during the 2024 election cycle to back candidates viewed as favorable to digital assets, per Reuters. The House of Representatives approved its own version of the bill in July.

    Related: Tensions Between Trad-banks and the Crypto Industry Could Come to a Head in 2026

    Despite that progress, the Senate path remains steep. The legislation would need the backing of at least seven Democrats to clear the chamber and move on to President Donald Trump for possible approval, according to Reuters. Several Democrats have signaled they are uneasy, arguing that the bill lacks safeguards to prevent elected officials from benefiting personally from crypto ventures.

    None of the Democrats on the Agriculture Committee supported advancing the measure. Senator Cory Booker, the panel’s top Democrat, said he was disappointed that discussions around decentralized finance had not been incorporated into the bill. “We’re almost in the red zone on this bill, and that frustrates me, because I see a bipartisan glide path to land this plane, to punch through the end zone,” Booker said ahead of the vote, according to Reuters.

    In an effort to break the impasse, the White House plans to host a meeting on Monday with leaders from both the banking and cryptocurrency industries to explore how the legislation might move forward in the Senate Banking Committee, which has not yet voted on its version of the bill, per Reuters.

    Source: Reuters