Senator Cynthia Lummis Negotiates Crypto Market Structure Bill with White House
Senator Cynthia Lummis is currently negotiating ethics provisions for the crypto market structure bill with the White House, representing Senate Democrats. The discussions, which took place at the Blockchain Association policy summit in Washington, focus on ethical safeguards to prevent top officials from profiting from the cryptocurrency industry. A working draft of the bill is expected to be revealed by the end of the week, with a markup planned for the following week.
Lummis, who chairs the Senate Banking Committee’s digital assets subcommittee, and Senator Ruben Gallego drafted the ethics language. Senate Democrats are advocating for party members to be nominated as commissioners to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but the White House has declined to commit to this request. Additionally, the White House has rejected some of the ethics language and asked negotiators to improve it. Lummis stated she will reconvene with colleagues to relaunch the talks.
The market structure bill requires approval from both the Senate Banking and Agriculture committees. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand highlighted that the draft legislation is stronger than previous House efforts, specifically noting its expanded scope beyond the House’s Clarity Act, which had already passed. The current draft addresses decentralized finance exchanges in a broader context than the House version.
