Industry Wants More Clarity on Senate Ag Market Structure Draft
Sections on DeFi and anti-money laundering remain unwritten
Welcome to the Wednesday edition of the Crypto In America newsletter!
What you’ll read: Industry says Ag draft needs more work before offering support, House set to vote tonight to reopen the government, John Wu joins the podcast.
The Senate Agriculture Committee’s long-awaited market structure discussion draft, released Monday afternoon, leaves much to be desired, and many in the industry say it needs more work before they can fully support it.
The bipartisan draft, led by Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NY), follows months of negotiations that have taken longer than expected.
Borrowing heavily from the House’s CLARITY Act, the text establishes the definition of a digital commodity while going further on customer protections, CFTC oversight, and self-custody. Still, much of the blockchain-related language remains in brackets, signaling that lawmakers have not yet reached consensus, and entire sections on DeFi and anti-money laundering were left empty.
“The bill is a good start, but still has a long way to go before industry can support it,” one crypto trade association chief told Crypto In America.
Some sources suggested the Ag Committee might be waiting on their Senate Banking counterparts to handle the heavy lifting on DeFi, since the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA), which protects developers, node operators, and wallet software creators from being classified as financial institutions, falls under Banking’s jurisdiction.
DeFi Education Fund Executive Director Amanda Tuminelli says she’s hopeful the language on DeFi, arguably the most complex part of the market structure bill and a source of significant friction, will be resolved.
“We are hoping that the section left open for DeFi will be filled in with robust developer protections that clearly distinguish centralized intermediaries from software developers without custody and control of other people’s money,” she said.
Indeed, the point of a discussion draft is to gather feedback from stakeholders, and many industry participants have signaled their willingness to engage with lawmakers on the process.
“We look forward to working together to get this across the finish line,” said Digital Chamber CEO Cody Carbone.
Meanwhile, the Senate Banking Committee has released two market structure drafts, mostly GOP-led. Current negotiations are now bipartisan, but it remains unclear when an updated draft might emerge. Once both committees have drafts they’re satisfied with, the bills will move to markup and eventually be merged before advancing as legislation.
Another unresolved but notable part of the Senate Ag draft is the section suggesting that the CFTC should have at least two commissioners nominated after consulting the committee’s minority party, potentially codifying that minority seats on the commission must be filled.
The committee has scheduled a nomination hearing for Trump’s new CFTC chair pick, Mike Selig, next Wednesday. While the White House has begun interviewing candidates for other commissioner positions, no names have been officially put forward to join the agency.
House Set for Key Vote to Reopen Government
House members return to Washington today for the first time in 54 days as the country watches this evening’s vote to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
First votes are expected shortly after 5 p.m. ET on the Senate-passed appropriations bill to reopen the government, with a final vote likely after 7 p.m. It will be the House’s first vote since September 19, the last day they were in session.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told members Monday to start heading back to D.C., despite travel delays that have been crippling flights across the country. With a two-vote Republican majority in the House, every member must be present to pass the spending bill, especially given the expected strong Democratic opposition.
President Trump has said he’ll sign the proposal when it reaches his desk. If the vote passes tonight, the government could reopen as soon as Thursday or Friday.
From Wyoming to the World Cup: John Wu on Real-World Crypto
This week on the podcast, we’re joined by John Wu, president of Ava Labs, the team behind Avalanche.
We dive into how regulatory clarity in the U.S. is bringing crypto innovation and capital back onshore, why enterprises and sports brands are finally embracing blockchain, and how Avalanche is bridging DeFi and real-world applications — from Wyoming’s stablecoin to FIFA fan engagement ahead of the World Cup.
Plus, John breaks down why “crypto getting boring” might actually be a good thing.
Watch this episode on all platforms here.
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