House Republicans plan a summer vote on a congressional stock trading ban and new restrictions on lawmakers’ prediction market activity. Republicans in the US House of Representatives are moving to add prediction market restrictions to a stalled congressional stock trading ban, as lawmakers scrutinize whether members of Congress should be allowed to wager on elections or public policy. House Administration Committee Chair Bryan Steil plans to attach prediction market provisions to H.R. 7008, the House’s stalled stock trading ban bill, before it reaches the floor, Bloomberg Government reported Thursday. Steil said he expects House leaders to schedule a vote on the measure, which would combine stock trading limits with new restrictions on lawmakers’ use of prediction markets. Read more
Representative James Comer asked CEOs of two major prediction market companies for information on their responses to insider trading after “suspiciously timed trades” related to US military actions against Iran. Update (May 22 at 7:40 pm UTC): This article has been updated to include statements from Polymarket and Kalshi. The chair of the US House of Representatives’ Oversight and Government Reform Committee sent letters to the CEOs of Kalshi and Polymarket, questioning the companies’ response to incidents of insider trading on the platform. In a Friday X post, Committee Chair James Comer confirmed reports that he had sent letters to Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan and Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour, asking them for internal records on how the companies were handling insider trading. The Kentucky lawmaker said there were concerns in Congress over elected officials using “basic insider knowledge” to profit off the government’s actions. Read more
Tom Emmer, the House majority whip, is also advocating for his Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, which has passed the House but has yet to pass the Senate. A pair of Republican lawmakers is calling for a permanent ban on a US central bank digital currency (CBDC) to be enshrined in the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, as the measure is expected to come up for a vote in the US House this week. The bill released by the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs in March mainly concerns revisions to federal housing programs but also includes a section banning the Federal Reserve System or any Federal Reserve bank from issuing a CBDC or similar instrument until Dec. 31, 2030. The US House has created its own amended bill, which Congressman Mike Flood said reverses the “backdoor green light for a CBDC” and aims to make the ban permanent. Read more
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is currently headed by Chair Michael Selig, with no public statement from Donald Trump about fully staffing the five-member panel of commissioners. The Republican chair and Democratic ranking member of the US House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture have called on President Donald Trump to fully staff the leadership at a key financial regulator, citing the potential impact of a crypto market structure bill. In a Friday letter to Trump, House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson and ranking member Angie Craig asked the president to “nominate a full panel” of bipartisan leaders for the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The representatives cited “urgent regulatory issues” facing the US regulator in addition to a “significant rulemaking process” required if the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY) becomes law. “Ensuring the Commission is well-equipped as the leading derivatives markets regulator in the world is a bipartisan priority fo...
Lawmakers asked if stablecoins could drain bank deposits and threaten financial stability, while Coinbase and Innovate Finance warned that strict regulation risks driving innovation offshore. The United Kingdom House of Lords grilled Coinbase’s top international policy executive on Wednesday over whether stablecoins would drain bank deposits and add new risks to the UK financial system, pressing him on everything from Silicon Valley Bank‑style runs to illicit finance and Know Your Customer (KYC) rules. During the Lords’ stablecoins inquiry, Tom Duff Gordon, Coinbase’s vice president for international policy, insisted that fully reserved, regulated stablecoins were “safer than uninsured bank deposits” because they are backed one‑to‑one by cash and high‑quality government securities and can be redeemed at par. He argued that stablecoins could materially reduce payment costs, speed up cross‑border payments, and underpin new artificial intelligence driven “agentic” payment flows. Read more
Some agencies, such as the SEC, are expected to reopen the day after a funding bill becomes law, more than 40 days after reducing their operations and staff. The US government is moving closer to reopening after more than 40 days of being shut down, following several Democratic lawmakers in the Senate siding with Republicans to pass a funding bill. On Monday, the US Senate held a late-night vote for a bill “continuing appropriations and extensions for fiscal year 2026,” which passed 60 to 40 in the chamber. The bill is expected to fund the government through Jan. 31, 2026, provided it passes in the House of Representatives and is signed into law by President Donald Trump. As Tuesday is a US federal holiday, the House is not expected to reconvene to vote on the bill until Wednesday at the earliest. Prediction platform Polymarket has already adjusted its expectation that the US government will return to normal operations on Friday, likely following the passage of the House bill. Read more
The House Rules Committee could add the CBDC bill to the final version of the market structure bill, but may not impact the Senate's own version of the legislation. The US House of Representatives may have a shorter legislative path to bar the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) by using a market structure bill it passed in July. In a Monday hearing of the House Rules Committee, a draft agenda showed a proposal to add the text of the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act — also passed by the chamber in July, albeit by a narrow margin — to the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. The engrossment method would add the CBDC bill to the final version of the existing market structure bill sent to the Senate for consideration. Read more
The three bills on Republicans’ crypto agenda passed with bipartisan support despite continued pushback from Democrats over claims of corruption and conflicts of interest. After delays in Congress over Republican concerns with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), the US House of Representatives has passed three pieces of crypto legislation. In a Thursday House session, lawmakers voted 294-134 to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, a bill aimed at establishing a market structure for cryptocurrencies, 308-122 in favor of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, and 219-210 for the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act. Almost 80 Democrats voted yes for the CLARITY Act and more than 100 for the GENIUS Act, with the bills having been expected to move through the chamber before Congress breaks for its August recess. Read more
Though the House of Representatives may soon be able to consider the three bills, President Donald Trump didn’t get all Republicans to fall in line to support the legislation. The US House of Representatives has cleared the way for three Republican-led crypto bills to be considered in the chamber after a failed vote on Tuesday. In a Wednesday floor vote in the House, lawmakers voted 215-211 in favor of a resolution to reconsider a package with bills to regulate payment stablecoins, establish crypto market structure and restrict the development of a US central bank digital currency (CBDC). The passage could lead to amendments to the bills and votes on the legislation itself soon as part of Republicans’ plans to pass them before Congress breaks for an August recess. Read more
Protect Progress, an affiliate of the cryptocurrency-backed Fairshake PAC, spent more than $1 million on media buys to support Democratic candidate James Walkinshaw. James Walkinshaw, a Democratic candidate seeking to replace the late Representative Gerry Connolly for Virginia’s 11th Congressional District, won a party primary after a cryptocurrency-backed political action committee (PAC) spent more than $1 million to support his race. On Saturday, Democrats in Virginia’s 11th district held a firehouse primary to decide on a possible replacement for Connolly after his death while in office. A special election to determine who will represent the district will be held on Sept. 9. Walkinshaw beat out other candidates to become the Democratic nominee for the House seat, and the cryptocurrency industry may have played a role in his success, given reports of media buys by the Protect Progress PAC. According to Federal Election Commission filings, the committee spent more than $1 million to support Walkinshaw in Jun...