WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate will vote on crypto market structure legislation as early as Thursday, Senator Tim Scott said Tuesday, marking the first major legislative push on digital asset regulation since President Trump's return to office.
Scott told Breitbart News the vote is critical for lawmakers to establish a formal position on the bill after six months of drafting among committee members. David Sacks, Trump's AI and crypto czar, met with senators in December to accelerate the process.
The bill would assign regulatory jurisdiction over digital assets and create uniform rules for crypto trading. It has drawn bipartisan interest, though key details remain contested.
But momentum does not guarantee passage. TD Cowen warned Monday that the legislation could slip to 2027, with final rules potentially not taking effect until 2029. Jaret Seiberg, managing director of TD Cowen's Washington Research Group, said Democrats have little incentive to move faster if House control could shift after the 2026 midterm elections.
"Time actually favors enactment," Seiberg wrote, arguing that legislative problems diminish once a bill passes, even if implementation lags.
Crypto attorneys and traders are split. Gabriel Shapiro, founder of MetaLeX, said the U.S. will likely pass a market structure bill despite unresolved concerns around illicit finance. But Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, said a review of materials from a bipartisan Senate meeting left him uncertain whether both sides can find common ground, citing multiple outstanding issues.
The regulatory fog has already moved markets. CoinShares reported $952 million in outflows from crypto investment products during the week ended Dec. 19, attributing the exodus to delays in legislation and prolonged regulatory uncertainty.
