The Senate Agriculture Committee announced Monday it will push an anticipated vote on a crypto market structure bill by two days, to accommodate a major snowstorm that continues to delay travel in and out of Washington.
Democrats and Republicans on the Agriculture Committee have been working together for months to reach a bipartisan deal on their half of the Senate’s crypto bill. The Agriculture Committee, which oversees the CFTC, will handle portions of the legislation pertaining to commodities. The powerful Senate Banking Committee, which oversees the SEC, is handling the half of the bill related to securities law and traditional banking.
The bill could technically squeak through the Agriculture Committee Thursday on a party-line vote. But such a result could end up counterproductive for a legislative project that's long been pitched as bipartisan and will ultimately require Democratic votes to pass on the Senate floor.
One Senate source told Decrypt they believe odds are currently “99% likely” that the bill will receive zero Democratic support at Thursday’s markup.
Further adding to the stress is the massive ticking clock hanging over negotiations: most stakeholders agree the crypto industry has until spring of this year to get the bill passed, before preparation for November’s midterm elections grinds Congress to a halt.
Should the issue of the Department of Homeland Security’s budget derail those negotiations, then the U.S. government will shut down for the second time in four months—likely pushing crypto votes further out on the calendar, and possibly, further down lawmakers' lists of priorities.
