SKN | US Senate Agriculture Committee Advances Crypto Market Structure Bill

Key Points

•  The Senate Agriculture Committee advanced a long-awaited crypto market structure bill after a closely divided markup vote.
•  All proposed amendments failed along party lines, underscoring persistent partisan gaps around ethics and regulatory oversight.
•  The bill now moves forward as lawmakers continue negotiating parallel legislation in the Senate Banking Committee.

A Narrow Vote Moves the Bill Forward

The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee voted Thursday to advance its crypto market structure legislation, marking a significant procedural milestone in Congress’ effort to define clear rules for digital asset markets.

The bill passed by a 12–11 vote strictly along party lines after lawmakers rejected three proposed amendments. The measure has been under development for months and reflects mounting pressure from the crypto industry and supportive lawmakers to replace enforcement-led oversight with a formal statutory framework.

Opening Statements Highlight Bipartisan Tensions

Committee Chair John Boozman said lawmakers had made “really significant progress” on the bill, while emphasizing that the Agriculture Committee’s work must ultimately be reconciled with parallel efforts in the Senate Banking Committee.

That committee recently postponed its own markup after Coinbase withdrew support for its version of the legislation, citing concerns over last-minute changes.

Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar acknowledged progress but said it fell short of earning bipartisan backing. She pointed to unresolved concerns around ethics provisions and regulatory safeguards, signaling continued Democratic resistance.

Ethics and Oversight Take Center Stage

Democratic lawmakers used the markup to push for amendments aimed at preventing conflicts of interest and ensuring stronger governance at regulators. Klobuchar proposed a requirement that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have at least four Senate-confirmed commissioners before the bill’s authorities could take effect.

“We can’t give this CFTC this broad new authority when it only has one member, one Republican member,” she said. That amendment failed along party lines.

Senator Cory Booker also emphasized that lawmakers should avoid stifling innovation, warning against language that could penalize software developers. “We do not want to be criminalizing people who are writing code,” Booker said during the session.

Amendments Fail, Bill Advances

Lawmakers were expected to consider up to 11 amendments covering ethics rules, CFTC leadership, and foreign interference in U.S. markets. In the end, all amendments that came to a vote failed, clearing the way for the base bill — formally titled the Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act in the Agriculture Committee — to advance.

An amendment related to credit card swipe fees, proposed by Senator Roger Marshall, remained on the agenda but was not expected to be actively pursued.

What Comes Next

With the Agriculture Committee bill now approved, attention shifts to whether negotiators can bridge differences with the Senate Banking Committee and craft a unified market structure framework capable of passing the full Senate.

Despite the partisan split, Thursday’s vote keeps the legislative process alive, setting the stage for continued negotiations over how the U.S. will regulate crypto markets — and which agency will ultimately hold primary authority over them.