House Democrats are discussing a plan to build their own crypto market structure bill next Congress, with a bigger role for the SEC and a smaller one for the CFTC. No text has been released, and the details come from industry sources rather than lawmakers.
House Democrats are discussing a plan to turn Rep. Maxine Waters' Crypto Investor and Consumer Bill of Rights into their own crypto market structure bill next Congress. The ideas include a bigger role for the SEC and a smaller one for the CFTC, according to a Wednesday report by Eleanor Terrett.
Terrett cited three industry sources who have spoken with Democratic staffers. No text has been released, so the details so far do not come from lawmakers. Republicans are calling it a messaging bill.
What the plan would fold in
The proposal would fold in the Democratic Clarity Act provisions Waters offered in the House, which were not adopted. It would also add the provisions Senate Democrats agreed on with Republicans before September's failed cloture vote. Further ethics provisions restricting the crypto activities of President Donald Trump and other federal officials are also likely, Terrett wrote.
The talks follow Tuesday's Democratic sweep of Congress. Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, is in line to take the gavel in January from Chairman French Hill, the Clarity Act's sponsor.
Where the SEC and CFTC split
The agency split is where a Democratic bill would break most sharply from the Republican one. The House-passed Clarity Act directs the CFTC to regulate most digital commodity trading, including exchanges, brokers and dealers. A bill that moves supervision back toward the SEC would reverse that design, which the industry backed.
The Clarity Act passed the House 294-134 in July 2025 and failed a Senate cloture vote 49-50 on Sept. 15. Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona said, in comments reported by Bloomberg Law: "The industry and the Republicans screwed up." Bloomberg Law reported that the new majorities give Democrats leverage over the Clarity Act.
A Democratic bill would still need Trump's signature to become law. Whether one built around the SEC can draw enough Republican votes is the question the next Congress opens with.
Source: Bitcoin Magazine
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