The US Senate Agriculture Committee has advanced its crypto market structure bill, setting up the next steps to sign the new crypto bill into law officially. The committee voted 12-11 to advance so-called crypto market structure legislation, which would create new rules governing how digital tokens are regulated.
The Agriculture Committee’s measure would establish the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as the primary regulator of a vast swath of the digital asset industry, giving it authority to regulate spot commodities, like Bitcoin, for the first time. Additionally, the bill would need to eventually be merged with a second part of the bill dealing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that falls under the Senate Banking Committee’s jurisdiction.
Ag Chair John Boozman (R-Ark.) said that while there was disagreement on a bipartisan level on the deal, the bill advancing marks a time to move forward. “The CFTC is the right agency to regulate the spot trading of digital commodities,” he said in an opening statement. “At a high level, this bill provides a clear definition of a digital commodity, protects innovation and technology, establishes consumer protection safeguards, and equips the agency with the necessary resources to take on this new responsibility.”
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The measure now moves to the Senate floor without bipartisan backing. Approval throughout the Senate would send the bill to the White House, where US President Donald Trump is expected to approve the measure. The tone of crypto has shifted in the United States since Trump’s presidential win, as he has vowed to make the US the crypto capital of the world.