- The Senate Agriculture Committee advanced an updated draft to markup next week without Democratic sign-off after stalled negotiations.
- The Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act centers CFTC oversight, setting registration and compliance rules for trading platforms and related services.
- A divergence with the Senate Banking Committee and questions about CFTC capacity add uncertainty to how the measure advances.
The boozman crypto bill moved a step closer to committee action on Wednesday after Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Chair John Boozman released an updated version of crypto market structure legislation and said it was time to bring the measure to a markup on Tuesday next week. He said the draft reflects “months of work” and includes “input from stakeholders,” even as “differences remain on fundamental policy issues.”
Boozman pushes ahead without bipartisan sign-off
Boozman acknowledged that negotiations have not fully resolved key disputes. The updated draft is moving forward without bipartisan support after talks stalled and momentum became uneven, as attention in the chamber shifts toward legislation supporting President Donald Trump’s push for housing affordability. Last week, Boozman said bipartisan talks had made progress but still needed additional time to settle outstanding issues.
In a statement about the committee’s decision, Boozman said it was “unfortunate that we couldn’t reach an agreement,” while adding that collaboration improved the legislation. He said the committee should move forward and that he is looking to the markup next week.
The boozman crypto bill and a split between Senate committees
The Senate Agriculture Committee’s decision to proceed comes as the Senate Banking Committee delays its own work on crypto market structure. That divergence between committees adds uncertainty about how the broader effort advances, given the Banking Committee’s role in the financial system.
Despite the lack of Democratic sign-off on the updated Agriculture draft, Cody Carbone, CEO of industry trade association Digital Chamber, told Decrypt that the draft “signals that the will to enact bipartisan market structure legislation this year remains strong.” Carbone also said, “The momentum has not shifted.”
What the legislation does, and the debate around CFTC capacity
The Senate Agriculture Committee’s draft is billed as the Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act. It builds on earlier bipartisan crypto market structure discussion drafts circulated in the Senate. The measure focuses on regulating digital commodity intermediaries under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, including registration and compliance rules for trading platforms and related services.
A separate effort, the House-backed CLARITY Act, seeks to address broader issues around asset classification and regulatory jurisdiction between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the CFTC across the crypto market. While these efforts are often grouped under the banner of “market structure,” they operate at different layers of regulation and have moved through different committees.
The Agriculture draft’s approach comes amid debate over expanding the CFTC’s role while the agency faces staffing and resource constraints. The CFTC’s internal watchdog has flagged digital asset oversight as a risk given the agency’s limited capacity, and observers have questioned the practical considerations of expanding its responsibilities.
Seth Hallem, CEO of crypto security firm Certora, told Decrypt that the CFTC “wasn’t built to oversee on-chain markets using enforcement tools designed for traditional, intermediated finance.” Hallem said prediction markets and on-chain financial markets are “autonomous software systems with risks that develop in real-time,” and argued that traditional tools such as disclosures and compliance audits are made irrelevant by that structure. Hallem said what could work is “a combination of clear market rules,cryptographic methods for guaranteeing compliance, and mathematical proof that systems do what they claim.”
Conclusion
The updated Agriculture Committee draft sets up a markup next Tuesday, with Boozman urging movement even as fundamental policy differences remain unresolved and bipartisan support has not materialized. The bill’s focus on CFTC oversight of digital commodity intermediaries, alongside separate efforts like the House-backed CLARITY Act, highlights both the push to advance the boozman crypto bill and broader crypto market structure legislation, and the questions that remain about jurisdiction and regulatory capacity.
Disclaimer
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