US Senators make ‘real progress’ on sweeping crypto market bill following talks with bank execs
Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott said "real progress" is being made to pass a massive cryptocurrency bill into law after meeting with top bank CEOs on Thursday.The South Carolina Republican met with Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan, Citi’s Jane Fraser, and Wells Fargo’s Charlie Scharf on Thursday to discuss the landmark legislation, which seeks to write rules for the digital asset industry as a whole and designate authority to regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission. “We are making real progress toward passing digital asset market structure legislation that will help cement America’s role as the crypto capital of the world," Scott said in a statement on Thursday. "For months, my colleagues and I on the Senate Banking Committee have received valuable feedback from across the banking and crypto industries."The trio of banking CEOs was expected to meet with senators to discuss crypto legislative proposals this week. A person familiar with the meetings told The Block that two meetings took place separately, one with Democrats and another with Republicans, calling both "cordial." They discussed yield, decentralized finance, and anti-money laundering concerns, among other topics, according to the person familiar. Yield-generating crypto assets, particularly stablecoins, have been a major obstacle in passing a larger crypto market structure bill.Banking associations have argued that a stablecoin bill, dubbed GENIUS, passed into law over the summer, has gaps that need to be closed. At issue, they say, is the stablecoin law's alleged weak prohibitions against stablecoin issuers paying interest to holders, which could make these assets more attractive stores-of-value and credit mechanisms rather than simply a means of payment, creating "distorting market incentives" for the banking sector. Further, banking groups have argued that restrictions imposed by the GENIUS Act can be easily bypassed by exchanges, brokers, and other affiliates.Lawmakers are barreling ahead, trying to get a bill to regulate the crypto industry passed into law. Over the summer, the House passed its version of a market structure bill called the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, or Clarity for short, with bipartisan support. The Senate has since embarked on its journey to pass a similar bill. Scott's banking committee has a draft that looks to allocate jurisdiction between the SEC and CFTC and create a new term for "ancillary assets" to clarify which cryptocurrencies are not securities. Meanwhile, the Senate Agriculture Committee has drafted legislation it released last month that would give new authority to the CFTC. Both committee versions of the bill would need to be reconciled. Over the past week, Democratic and Republican senators have met to negotiate certain provisions of the bill, but talks seem wobbly. Some lawmakers are looking to advance the bill and move it through the Senate Banking Committee before the end of the year, but it is unclear whether that will happen. Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.