Galaxy Research Director: Key hearings on cryptocurrency market structure legislation will be held next week, with bipartisan lawmakers potentially proposing amendments

BlockBeats News, January 25 — Galaxy Research Director Alex Thorn posted on X platform that a key hearing in the cryptocurrency market structure legislation process will take place next week. The Republican members of the Senate Agriculture Committee released a discussion draft of the “Digital Commodity Intermediary Act.” This bill is expected to be merged in the future with related legislation completed by the Senate Banking Committee, forming a comprehensive “Cryptocurrency Market Structure Act.” Since the Senate Agriculture Committee is responsible for overseeing the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), this draft primarily focuses on the digital commodity market, with the core content granting the CFTC exclusive regulatory authority over the spot crypto market (including crypto trading platforms, traders, and brokers).

The committee plans to hold a bill revision hearing on January 27 (Tuesday), during which bipartisan lawmakers may propose amendments. Although the discussion of market structure in the crypto sector, particularly the commodity aspect (including CFTC’s regulatory authority over the spot market), is generally considered less contentious than the securities aspect, this draft still bears clear partisan characteristics. It has not yet received endorsement from the main Democratic negotiators, although it includes many provisions previously negotiated with Democrats.

Overall, this legislative text from the Senate Agriculture Committee aligns with market expectations, primarily establishing a regulatory framework for the digital commodity spot market centered around the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Compared to the related issues under discussion by the Senate Banking Committee, this version has a narrower scope and is relatively less politically sensitive and controversial.