Senate | Crypto

Senator John Thune reportedly said that the chamber would prioritize the SAVE America Act before addressing a vote on bipartisan bills like crypto market structure. US Senator Majority Leader John Thune reportedly said he doesn’t expect the chamber to move forward with legislation to establish digital asset market structure before April. According to a Thursday Punchbowl News report, Thune said that the Senate planned to prioritize voting on the SAVE America Act, a bill that would require voters to provide proof of US citizenship in person to register. The majority leader addressed reporters on Thursday saying that the bill would go to the chamber next week, adding that lawmakers would focus on the crypto market structure bill and other bipartisan bills after the SAVE America Act vote. Read more

The provision banning the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency was included in housing affordability legislation. The United States Senate voted on Thursday to include an amendment in the 21st Century Road to Housing Act that would prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The CBDC prohibition will remain in effect until Dec. 31, 2030, according to the amendment in the bill. The legislation, which passed 89-10, stated: However, the bill does not prohibit any dollar-denominated digital currency that is “open, permissionless, and private,” such as stablecoins. Read more

A bipartisan housing bill was approved in the Senate, carrying an unrelated ban on U.S. central bank digital currencies, but its future remains uncertain.

Democratic Senator Adam Schiff introduced a bill to ban prediction markets related to war, death and terrorism amid escalating insider trading concerns related to military operations. US Democratic Party Senator Adam Schiff introduced legislation Tuesday that would explicitly bar federally regulated prediction-market platforms from listing contracts tied to war, terrorism, assassination and individual deaths. The bill, called the DEATH BETS Act, would amend the Commodity Exchange Act to make those contracts prohibited for entities overseen by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). In a statement announcing the bill, Schiff said markets that let traders profit from violent events create incentives for the misuse of classified information, threaten national security and encourage violence. He said prediction markets had become a “Wild West” and called for Congress and the CFTC to make clear that such “death bets” are not allowed. Read more

The crypto exchange responded to a Senate inquiry over sanctions by claiming that “no Binance account transacted directly with an Iran-based entity.“ Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has officially responded to a February inquiry launched by a group of 11 US senators, largely denying facilitating transactions to Iranian entities and the narrative around employees’ terminations. In a Friday letter to US Senators Richard Blumenthal and Ron Johnson of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Binance said that an inquiry launched in February into the exchange’s activities was based on reports that were “demonstrably false, unsupported by credible evidence, and defamatory in several material respects.”  The exchange referred to reporting from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Fortune, which said that Binance fired employees that reported the company had facilitated more than $1 billion in crypto transactions to entities connected to Iran, called Hexa Whale and Blessed Trust. According to Binance, the...

The US Federal Reserve has issued a limited-use master account to Kraken, marking a major pro-crypto shift in policy. Recent events at the US Federal Reserve signal acceptance of digital assets at the highest levels of the country’s monetary system.  Kraken recently became the first crypto exchange to receive a master account at the Federal Reserve. The Fed could also see a new crypto-friendly chair. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday submitted a pro-Bitcoin candidate for the Senate’s consideration. Read more

The US President makes it official after previously announcing his pick of Kevin Warsh to replace Fed chair Jerome Powell in a Jan. 30 social media post. The US Senate will soon vote on Donald Trump’s nominee to head the US Federal Reserve after the president picked Kevin Warsh, who has previously expressed pro-Bitcoin views, to replace Fed chair Jerome Powell. In a Wednesday notice, the White House said that Trump had sent Warsh’s nomination to the Senate to be chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve for a term of four years, and as a Fed governor for 14 years. The president had previously taken to social media to announce Warsh was his pick to replace Powell, whose term as chair ends in May but may stay on as a Fed governor until 2028. Warsh served as a Fed governor under former US Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama from 2006 to 2011. He went on to become a Shepard Family Distinguished Visiting Fellow in Economics at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University.  Read more

The CLARITY Act moved quickly through the House of Representatives since it was introduced in June 2025 but has been plagued with delays in the Senate. The crypto industry and investors are awaiting the completion of the US CLARITY Act, which has been delayed amid partisan politics and industry concerns. The bill would rewrite the rules of the road for the crypto industry, from which agency oversees it to regulations for decentralized finance (DeFi). Currently, lawmakers in the US Senate are hammering out the details, with significant points of contention. Democrats want a bipartisan bill with ethics provisions and a bailout prohibition that Republicans roundly rejected. Read more

Mark Moran is using a meme coin on Solana to elevate his U.S. Senate bid, rallying degens against a pro-crypto Democrat in Virginia.

On Jan. 29, the Senate Agriculture Committee advanced the crypto market-structure bill, giving the legislation known as the “CLARITY Act” its first concrete win in the Senate. The Agriculture panel’s action moves the bill closer to a full Senate fight over which regulator sets the rules for spot crypto markets. However, the bigger near-term problem […] The post US Senate advances new crypto law yet CLARITY gridlock might kill the bill for good appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The Republican and Democratic Senate Judiciary leaders have called for changes to the market structure bill, arguing it would “weaken” the ability to police money transmitters. US Senate Judiciary Committee leaders are seeking to remove crypto developer protections from the Senate’s crypto market structure bill, arguing the provisions would weaken unlicensed money transmitting laws. Senate Judiciary chair Charles Grassley and the committee’s top Democrat, Richard Durbin, told Senate Banking Committee chair Tim Scott and top Democrat Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday that the crypto bill as drafted would “create a significant enforcement gap for decentralized digital asset platforms.” “Such a gap risks attracting illicit actors — like cartels and other sophisticated criminal organizations — to decentralized platforms,” Grassley and Durbin said in a letter Politico first reported on Friday.  Read more

With the CLARITY Act scheduled for a markup on Thursday, some lawmakers could still be at odds over decentralized finance, stablecoins and ethical concerns. As US senators prepare to mark up a major crypto market structure bill this week, industry leaders are weighing in on proposed changes that could shape whether stablecoin holders can earn interest and rewards. According to an amended draft of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act released on Monday, the bill states that “a digital asset service provider may not pay any form of interest or yield [...] solely in connection with the holding of a payment stablecoin,” effectively barring passive, deposit-like returns on stablecoin balances. The draft leaves room for structured reward mechanisms, as stablecoin rewards would not be prohibited under certain circumstances, including “providing liquidity or collateral” or “governance, validation, staking, or other ecosystem participation.” Read more

The GENIUS Act banned issuer-paid yield, but the Senate markup fight is whether exchanges can keep routing rewards around that restriction, and the answer could decide who controls $6 billion in annual incentives. Senate Banking is scheduled to consider the CLARITY Act on Jan. 15, and the legislative fight has narrowed to a single question […] The post The US Senate could wipe out $6 billion in crypto rewards this week by closing one specific loophole appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The US crypto industry has launched a unified push for Congress to pass federal market-structure legislation, known as the “Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025” (H.R. 3633). The legislation is viewed by industry proponents as the necessary “missing layer” of federal law to allow the industry to thrive. While the “GENIUS Act” established baseline […] The post Crypto firms like Ripple are betting on a Senate deal that is rapidly unraveling behind closed doors appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Harriet Hageman’s “Soon” teaser on X sharpens talk of a 2026 Senate bid to replace crypto ally Cynthia Lummis, raising the stakes for Wyoming’s pro‑crypto brand. Wyoming Representative Harriet Hageman fueled speculation about a 2026 Senate run after posting a cryptic video days after Senator Cynthia Lummis announced she will not seek reelection. ​The five-second clip shows the congresswoman alongside a single-word caption: “Soon.” It breaks a months‑long lull on her account and bolsters speculation that she is eyeing Lummis’ open seat. Wyoming’s Senate seat has been a reliable voice in advancing regulatory clarity for the crypto industry, from market structure bills and stablecoin regulation to banking access. Whoever replaces Lummis will help decide whether crypto keeps a dedicated champion in the Senate. Read more

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson recently argued that the launch of TRUMP three days before President Donald Trump's inauguration derailed what would have been a 70-vote Senate majority for the CLARITY Act and turned a unified crypto-policy push into a partisan battle. In an interview, Hoskinson said that in December 2024, “we were expecting about 70 […] The post Charles Hoskinson argues the TRUMP token cost crypto a 70-vote Senate win and sparked the Bitcoin-only crisis appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The legislation, which many have criticized for being overly restrictive for the digital asset market, was reintroduced with “not even a comma” changed, according to one lawmaker. The Sejm, the lower house of Poland’s legislature, has again passed a bill that could impose restrictions on the cryptocurrency market, following the country’s president’s veto of an earlier attempt. In a Thursday vote, Polish lawmakers voted 241 for and 183 against the Crypto-Assets Market Act, a bill previously vetoed by President Karol Nawrocki. On Friday, the bill was sent to the Senate for further consideration. The crypto bill is intended to align Poland’s regulations with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework, with member states expected to transition by July 2026. The same version of the bill, which passed the lower house in September, received criticism from some lawmakers and industry advocates, who claimed it could threaten the country’s crypto market and its users.  Read more

The legislation, which many have criticized for being overly restrictive for the digital asset market, was reintroduced with “not even a comma” changed, according to one lawmaker. The Sejm, the lower house of Poland’s legislature, has again passed a bill that could impose restrictions on the cryptocurrency market, following the country’s president’s veto of an earlier attempt. In a Thursday vote, Polish lawmakers voted 241 for and 183 against the Crypto-Assets Market Act, a bill previously vetoed by President Karol Nawrocki. On Friday, the bill was sent to the Senate for further consideration. The crypto bill is intended to align Poland’s regulations with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework, with member states expected to transition by July 2026. The same version of the bill, which passed the lower house in September, received criticism from some lawmakers and industry advocates, who claimed it could threaten the country’s crypto market and its users.  Read more

Mike Selig pledged to make crypto a priority when he was picked to lead the CFTC in October, while Travis Hill has spoken out against crypto debanking. The US Senate has confirmed crypto-friendly lawyer Mike Selig as the new chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and has elevated Travis Hill to chair the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The two confirmations were included in a package of nearly 100 other nominees that the Trump administration had selected for various roles across the government, which passed the Senate in a 53-43 vote on Thursday. Selig, who has previous experience at the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission, pledged to make crypto a priority when he was nominated in October after he was picked to take over from the previous nominee, Brian Quintenz. Read more

In a package of confirmations, the U.S. Senate approved Mike Selig to lead the CFTC and Travis Hill to run the FDIC, both with major potential reach into crypto.