Derailed House Hearing Leaves Crypto Market Structure Hanging in Balance

Donald Trump promised to transform the U.S. into the “crypto capital of the planet,” and he will need cryptocurrency legislation for his administration to do it.

But while bills for both stablecoin regulations and market structure legislation were expected within his administration’s first 100 days, little concrete progress has been made by lawmakers in advancing a comprehensive domestic policy framework — particularly as it relates to crypto markets.

And if the news Tuesday (May 6) coming out of the joint hearing entitled “American Innovation and the Future of Digital Assets: A Blueprint for the 21st Century,” held by the House Financial Services (HFS) Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Artificial Intelligence & House Agriculture Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development, is any indication, it may take at least another 100 days for emotions on both sides of the aisle to cool.

Initially a bipartisan hearing meant to discuss a Digital Asset Market Structure Discussion Draft, which was introduced into Congress on Monday (May 5), the hearing instead derailed down partisan lines.

Rather than attending the Tuesday hearing, many Democratic lawmakers, led by House Financial Services ranking member Maxine Waters, walked out of the joint hearing in order to hold their own entitled “Democratic Hearing To Discuss Trump’s Crypto Corruption and Conflicts of interest.”

“This decision comes after Chairman French Hill (R-AK) refused to include provisions in legislation blocking Trump’s ability to further enrich himself from crypto,” said Waters.

The political conflict marks a sharp turn in what was once a relatively bipartisan area of interest and risks turning both stablecoin oversight and crypto market clarity from a regulatory challenge into a political football being thrown back and forth.

Read also: Are Crypto Markets Going Mainstream? What Treasury Execs Should Know

Crypto Market Clarity Remains in Limbo

The consequences of crypto’s emerging legislative stall aren’t just political. The lack of regulatory clarity continues to create uncertainty for developers, investors and companies operating in the U.S. digital asset space.

Had Tuesday’s hearing gone as planned, lawmakers from both sides would have had the opportunity to discuss the “Digital Asset Market Structure Discussion Draft,” a legislative proposal that delineates the roles of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in overseeing cryptocurrencies and blockchain-based assets.

The draft bill proposes a comprehensive legal framework to regulate digital commodities, including crypto tokens and stablecoins, while preserving key exemptions for decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain infrastructure developers.

At the core of the draft is a clear allocation of responsibilities. The CFTC is given exclusive jurisdiction over digital commodity spot markets through a new class of regulated entities — digital commodity exchanges, brokers and dealers. These entities would be subject to rules on custody, capital, disclosures, and governance, while customers could opt into services like staking, provided conditions set by the CFTC are met.

The bill also introduces the concept of qualified digital commodity custodians, requiring stringent oversight and registration to safeguard customer assets, echoing investor protection standards from traditional finance.

In a concession to the crypto industry, the bill removes digital commodities and certain stablecoins from the SEC’s definition of a “security.” However, it grants the SEC anti-fraud powers over transactions involving digital commodities within its registered entities. It also permits dual registration, allowing brokers and exchanges to register with both the SEC and CFTC under a streamlined “notice registration” process.

Read also: The Three Most Important US Crypto Policies to Watch This Year

Crypto Continues Its Push Into Mainstream Finance

The U.S., despite the policy standstill, has seen its regulators — including the SEC, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Federal Reserve — begin to clarify their positions on crypto.

In early March, at the White House’s first-ever “Crypto Summit,” Trump expressed his hope that stablecoin legislation would get to his desk before Congress’s recess beginning Aug. 5.

“There’s certainly a change in how the administration views the digital assets industry,” Dan Boyle, partner at Boies Schiller Flexner, told PYMNTS in an interview posted April 23. “This is not a confrontational posture … The obvious growth is in stablecoins and you have a lot of issuers ready to be fully compliant. It’s a hard argument for Congress to ignore.”

As PYMNTS previously covered, stablecoin market capitalization reached an all-time high in April amid strong performance across cryptocurrency sectors. Regulatory maturation, the real-world quest for stablecoin utility, and the institutionalization of digital assets mark a turning point in which the Wild West days of crypto are being replaced by a convergence with mainstream finance, PYMNTS reported April 23.