Despite the postponement of Thursday’s Senate Banking Committee hearing that could have advanced sweeping cryptocurrency legislation, lawmakers insist the effort is far from dead.
The committee had been expected to hold an all-day session to consider amendments and vote on a bill that would broadly divide oversight of digital assets between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
That plan unraveled late Wednesday when Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said he was pulling support over concerns, including the treatment of stablecoin returns and giving too much power to the SEC.
Then, committee Chair Tim Scott postponed the hearing.
A spokesperson for the committee did not respond to questions on when it would be rescheduled.
Finding consensus
Still, several committee members say negotiations will continue.
In a post on X on Thursday, Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., said lawmakers are “closer than ever.”
“Everyone is still at the negotiating table, & I look forward to partnering with him to deliver a bipartisan bill the industry— & America— can be proud of,” Lummis said on Thursday morning in an X post.
Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., said he was “confident” that there will be “a consensus product in short order” on Thursday.
“I am fully committed to continuing this important work with my colleagues on market structure and look forward to passing legislation that ensures this innovative technology flourishes in the United States for decades to come,” Hagerty said in a post on X.
Following Armstrong’s comments on Wednesday, crypto advocates quickly piled on support for this bill. Crypto exchange Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said he was committed to working on crypto market structure legislation.
“Walking away now would not preserve the status quo in practice,” Sethi said in a post on X on Wednesday. “It would lock in uncertainty and leave American companies operating under ambiguity while the rest of the world moves forward.”
On Thursday, The Digital Chamber CEO Cody Carbone said crypto market structure legislation has to move ahead.
“Inaction is unacceptable,” Carbone said in a statement. “We cannot afford to walk away from the table at a moment when clarity is within reach.”
Mixed views
In a note published on Thursday, Benchmark analyst Mark Palmer said pushing back markups to later in January gives more time for senators and their staff to build more bipartisan momentum.
The Senate Agriculture Committee, which oversees the CFTC, originally had a hearing scheduled for Thursday to debate the bill, but pushed that back to the end of the month. Both committees’ bills will have to be merged before heading to a full Senate floor vote.
“If successful, the bill could usher in the most consequential regulatory restructuring of U.S. financial markets since the financial crisis,” Palmer said. “We regard the delay as a strategic pause that should increase the likelihood that the legislation that emerges is both workable and sustainable.”
TD Cowen took a more pessimistic tone. Getting Democrat buy-in while fixing issues that Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong wants addressed could prove to be tricky, said TD Cowen’s Washington Research Group, led by managing director Jaret Seiberg, in a note on Wednesday.
Democrats’ votes remain critical, as most legislation requires 60 votes to clear the chamber.
“The objections that Armstrong highlights include changes that Democrats secured in advance of the vote,” Seiberg said. “It is why we have trouble seeing how the bill could be improved in a way that satisfies Coinbase but preserves the bipartisanship needed for this to overcome a filibuster in the full Senate.”
Lawmakers are also facing timing pressure ahead of the midterm elections in November.
“For Democrats, the politics favor waiting until 2027 to advance crypto market structure as they expect to retake the House,” Seiberg said. “That will give them more leverage over the final compromise.”
© 2026 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.
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