Update (Jan. 22, 3:00 am UTC): This article has been updated to add further information about the crypto bill and a new draft released on Wednesday.
Crypto market structure legislation could be delayed by several weeks as the Senate Banking Committee shifts its focus to US President Donald Trump’s affordability agenda, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter.
On Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order barring Wall Street investors from buying single-family homes.
The move was seen as part of the Trump administration’s attempt to push down costs before the US midterm election in November.
Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that the Banking Committee is likely to switch focus to implementing the executive order and delay advancing the crypto bill until late February or March.
It could potentially be the Senate’s latest delay to the bill, which has seen the Banking and Agriculture Committees postpone scheduled markups for the legislation to garner bipartisan support.
The bill lays out how the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission would police crypto, but Coinbase, a major lobbyist, pulled support for the bill over disagreements with provisions regarding stablecoins and decentralized platforms.
Crypto bill slated for change
Republicans are pushing to get policy wins to take into the midterm elections in November, as the latest polling and Polymarket odds show Democrats ahead with a nearly 80% chance of winning a majority in the House, which could derail Trump’s agenda.
The Trump administration has prioritized crypto policy in its first year, but the soaring cost of living has voters putting affordability as a top concern heading into the elections.
Related: DeFi leaders voice concerns amid market structure bill‘s uncertain future
Top White House crypto advisor Patrick Witt said on Tuesday that the Senate must quickly pass the crypto bill while deals can still be made to keep momentum behind it, but conceded that “compromises will need to be made” for it to get enough votes to pass.
Republicans on the Senate Agriculture Committee released their own draft of the crypto bill on Wednesday ahead of a markup of the bill scheduled for Tuesday, which doesn’t have the support of the panel’s Democrats.
Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman said that “differences remain on fundamental policy issues,” but the bill “builds on our bipartisan discussion draft while incorporating input from stakeholders.”
Democrats will have the chance to file amendments to the bill during the markup, and again if the Banking Committee version of the bill is passed to the full Senate, where both versions would be married up.
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