Week in Review: Market Rules and Listings
Senate makes progress on market structure, Gemini begins trading on Nasdaq
Welcome to the Friday edition of the Crypto In America newsletter!
What you’ll read: Early momentum on market structure, Gemini’s listing day, and the week’s top headlines.
Progress was made on market structure in the Senate this week.
Democratic senators and staff met multiple times on crypto legislation and released their own market structure framework, fueling optimism that bipartisan negotiations are off to a positive start.
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) even voiced support for passing a crypto bill when he stopped by a gathering of Democrats on Wednesday, according to Punchbowl News.
At least five industry participants who spoke with Crypto In America this week said they feel encouraged by Democrats’ support at this stage, hoping the good will holds through the tougher conversations.
That enthusiasm remained despite Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana throwing cold water on the process, saying he does not believe the upper chamber is ready to advance market structure legislation out of committee this month.
“I don’t think we’re ready,” he told a Politico reporter. “People that I talk to still have a lot of questions. I know I still have a lot of questions."
Other Republican leaders appear comfortable with where negotiations currently stand, three weeks out from an expected markup of a draft bill by the Senate Banking Committee.
At a fireside chat during CoinDesk’s Policy & Regulation Summit on Wednesday, Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) said the Democrats’ market structure principles highlighted just how few differences remain between the two sides and clarified which disagreements still need focus to bring them closer together.
She also reiterated that marking up the securities side of the draft in the Senate Banking Committee by September 30 remains the focus for both herself and Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC).
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Gemini IPO Raises $425 Million
Gemini will debut on the Nasdaq later this morning under the ticker symbol GEMI after pricing its shares at $28.
According to Bloomberg, the crypto exchange raised $425 million in its IPO Thursday night, selling 15.2 million shares, fewer than originally planned but above the newly raised price range. The $28 listing price would value Gemini at around $3.3 billion.
Gemini will become the third public crypto exchange, joining Coinbase (COIN) and Bullish (BLSH), which listed on the NYSE last month.
Adding interest, Nasdaq itself is buying in. The exchange is taking a $50 million private placement immediately after the IPO, striking a partnership that will let Nasdaq clients custody and stake crypto through Gemini. Gemini will also become a distribution partner for Nasdaq’s Calypso product, giving institutions access to collateral management tools.
At a glance, the company has been showing widening losses. Gemini reported a $282.5 million net loss in the first half of 2025, compared to $41.4 million a year earlier. Revenue slipped to $68.6 million from $74.3 million even as trading volume climbed to $24.8 billion from $16.6 billion. As of June 30, Gemini held 4,002 bitcoin and 10,444 ether.
However, founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are a powerhouse duo, and investors will likely be betting on their brand, Gemini’s global scale, and the Nasdaq partnership as the exchange hits the public markets.
Weekly Recap
ICYMI. Here are the biggest news stories this week from the intersection of Washington and Web3:
BlackRock is weighing tokenizing ETFs on blockchain, potentially allowing them to trade beyond standard market hours, according to Bloomberg.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins reiterated that most crypto tokens are not securities during a speech on Wednesday and laid out the agency’s plan to bring trading, lending, and staking under a single regulatory framework.
CFTC chair nominee Brian Quintenz released private communications between himself and Tyler Winklevoss on X amid ongoing tension between the two. Quintenz says it is an effort to be transparent and support President Trump’s agenda. Still no word on the status of his nomination.
Coinbase has asked a federal court to do an “expedited proper search” to help retrieve lost texts from former SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s phone allegedly lost by the agency in 2023.
CBOE plans to launch continuous Bitcoin and Ether futures with a 10-year expiration, pending regulatory approval.
Eric Trump will no longer join as a board director of World Liberty’s treasury firm Alt5 Sigma, reportedly to comply with Nasdaq listing rules.
Nasdaq filed with the SEC to allow tokenization and blockchain listing of stocks.
Nasdaq struck a $50 million partnership with Gemini that will allow the exchange to offer its custodial services to its institutional clients.
The SEC’s Crypto Task Force announced it will host a public roundtable on financial surveillance and privacy on Friday, October 17.
The Senate Banking Committee advanced the nomination of Stephen Miran to become temporary Federal Reserve governor. A confirmation vote could come as soon as Monday.
A federal judge granted a temporary restraining order preventing President Trump from firing Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook for now.
Consumer prices rose to 2.9% in August as U.S. inflation ticked higher.
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"Progress was made..."
Sure, but with these folks... I'll believe it's done only when it's signed by the president.