Early Buzz: Market Structure Draft Gets Positive Reviews
Praise for clarity, developer protections ahead of crucial negotiations with Dems
Welcome to the Monday edition of the Crypto In America newsletter!
What you’ll read: Market structure draft impresses, regulatory besties in action, this week’s watchlist, and CIA goes live!
Early reaction to the Senate Banking Committee’s latest market structure discussion draft is leaning positive.
Over the weekend, a handful of prominent industry voices took to social media to share initial reactions to the 182-page text released Friday afternoon. Early praise focused on the bill’s clarity around decentralized governance, staking, airdrops, tokenization, and protections for software developers and self-custody.
Other standouts include protections for existing, non-fraudulent tokens from future SEC enforcement, exemptions for decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN) and DeFi networks, and a new process for SEC-CFTC coordination.
The latest draft is the product of weeks of work by GOP Senate Banking staffers, informed by more than 130 stakeholder responses on topics from trading and custody to illicit finance. It also draws heavily from the House’s CLARITY Act, with many sections reflecting language from the lower chamber’s bill. How the two chambers will reconcile their versions remains unclear, though sources say the House and Senate are in regular communication.
The next step: the committee introduces a bill and holds a markup, potentially by the end of the month. How quickly that happens will depend on how Banking Committee Democrats respond and whether they’re willing to negotiate on some of the bill’s more divisive provisions.
“Chairman Scott, Senator Lummis, and their colleagues will continue working in a bipartisan way to deliver a final product that will protect investors, foster innovation, and keep the future of digital finance anchored in America,” a Banking Committee spokesperson said in a statement.
How meetings with Democrats go over the next three weeks will be crucial to the timeline, and some in industry are cautiously optimistic about a compromise.
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SEC & CFTC: Regulatory Besties?
The SEC and CFTC doubled down on their newfound harmonization last week.
On Friday, the agencies announced a public roundtable on September 29 to explore regulatory alignment, covering expanded trading hours, event and perpetual contracts, portfolio margining, DeFi exemptions, and self-custody protections. The announcement followed a rare joint staff statement earlier in the week clarifying that registered exchanges can offer certain spot crypto products, including those with leverage, margin, or financing for retail traders.
“By working in lockstep, our two agencies can harness our nation’s unique regulatory structure into a source of strength for market participants, investors, and all Americans,” SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and CFTC Acting Chairman Caroline Pham said.
Why it matters: After years of tension, mixed messaging, and regulatory uncertainty, the SEC and CFTC are signaling alignment and a willingness to collaborate more closely with each other and the crypto industry.
What To Watch This Week
The crypto conference circuit is heating back up.
Tuesday
Boston Blockchain Week kicks off in Quincy, MA.
Wednesday
CoinDesk hosts its Policy & Regulation event in Washington D.C.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the August Producer Price Index (PPI)
Thursday
The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the August Consumer Price Index (CPI)
Friday
Gemini lists on the Nasdaq under the ticker GMNI
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Stellar presentation.
Thank you All always