Today in crypto: US Senator Cynthia Lummis expects the digital asset market structure bill to move to markup before Congress breaks for the holidays. Paradigm’s Matt Huang says crypto is nearing a mainstream tipping point as regulated investment products expand, and the CFTC has issued new guidance on tokenized collateral in derivatives markets.
Senator Lummis anticipates crypto market structure markup next week
Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis, a member of the US Senate Banking Committee and one of the most prominent proponents for addressing digital asset market structure in Congress, said she wants to take the next step in advancing the bill sometime next week.
Speaking at the Blockchain Association Policy Summit on Tuesday, Lummis said she anticipated that the markup hearing for the Responsible Financial Innovation Act — the Banking Committee’s version of market structure — would happen before Congress broke for the holidays.
The senator said the crypto industry “was getting a little concerned” about the progress of the bill, adding that drafts were “changed so much every few days” during bipartisan discussions.
“Our staffs are exhausted,” said Lummis, referring to her and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s teams. “I think that we’re to the point where it’s better to go ahead with a product and mark it up next week and then give everybody a break over the Christmas break to catch their breath.”
A markup hearing involves lawmakers considering amendments and changes before a bill is sent to the Senate for a vote.
Although the banking committee released a discussion draft of the market structure bill in July, after the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act passed the US House of Representatives, progress was slowed by the longest government shutdown in the country’s history and reports of pushback from some lawmakers over DeFi provisions in the bill.
Crypto nears its “Netscape moment” as industry approaches inflection point
The cryptocurrency industry is approaching its “Netscape moment,” as steady progress in blockchain infrastructure and the rise of regulated investment products drive a new wave of institutional adoption, according to Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang.
The crypto sector is “facing its ‘Netscape’ or ‘iPhone’ moment,” Huang wrote Sunday in a post on X. “It’s working bigger than ever before, far beyond our wildest dreams. Both the institutional parts and the cypherpunk parts.”
Netscape launched the first easy-to-use web browser for mainstream users in 1994 before going public with a successful initial public offering (IPO) in August 1995, marking the first building block that triggered the internet’s mass adoption.
However, Microsoft saw the large-scale interest and capitalized on it on it by freely bundling Internet Explorer as a pre-installed component of the Windows operating system, outcompeting Netscape to become the most widely used internet browser.
In the crypto world, Bitcoin’s (BTC) peer-to-peer model and decentralized finance (DeFi) have enabled a new vision of an open, programmable financial system that cuts out intermediaries.
At the same time, centralized platforms and traditional investment vehicles are attracting a growing share of new capital because they are easier to use and fit within familiar regulatory frameworks.
About 200 crypto-based exchange-traded products (ETPs) could launch on the market in the next year, with 155 awaiting approval as of Oct. 22, according to Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst, Eric Balchunas.
CFTC pilot opens path for crypto as collateral in derivative markets
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has issued updated guidance for tokenized collateral in derivatives markets, paving the way for a pilot program to test how cryptocurrencies can be used as collateral in derivatives markets.
Collateral in derivatives markets serves as a security deposit, acting as a guarantee to ensure that a trader can cover any potential losses.
The digital asset pilot, announced by CFTC acting chairman Caroline Pham on Monday, will allow futures commission merchants (FCM) — a company that facilitates futures trades for clients — to accept Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and Circle’s stablecoin USDC (USDC) for margin collateral.
The CFTC pilot is another step toward integrating crypto into regulated markets, and Circle CEO Heath Tarbert said it will also protect customers, reduce settlement frictions and assist with risk reduction.
Pham said that the pilot program “establishes clear guardrails to protect customer assets and provides enhanced CFTC monitoring and reporting.”
As part of the pilot, participating FCMs will be subject to strict reporting criteria, which require weekly reports on total customer holdings and any significant issues that may affect the use of crypto as collateral.