Insider: Senate Democrats have returned to the negotiation table for the CLARITY Act

On January 17, according to informed sources, Democratic senators in the U.S. Senate have returned to the negotiation table for the Crypto Market Structure Act, holding a conference call with representatives from the crypto industry on Friday. Lawmakers showed a high level of engagement in advancing the next steps. After a significant setback this week—when the Senate unexpectedly postponed the first vote on the bill—Democrats are attempting to demonstrate that they are still actively pushing for legislation. Participants said that after the midday call, industry representatives felt that the Senate Agriculture Committee still aims to hold a review hearing before the end of the month but was asked not to disclose specific details of the discussion. Democratic members from the two committees that need to jointly pass the crypto legislation—the Senate Banking Committee and the Senate Agriculture Committee—participated in this call, the day after the Banking Committee’s originally scheduled first hearing on Thursday. The draft bill released this week has faced considerable criticism, with US crypto exchange CEX announcing that it cannot support this version. As of now, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott has not confirmed a new date for the review hearing, which will be used for lawmakers to discuss amendments and possibly vote on whether to send the bill to the full Senate for a vote. According to the current schedule, the next step is the review hearing scheduled by the Senate Agriculture Committee on January 27, although industry observers have questioned whether this date might also be postponed. If both committees approve their respective versions of the bill—where the Banking Committee version focuses on SEC regulation and the Agriculture Committee version centers on CFTC jurisdiction—they will merge to form a unified bill for a full Senate vote. As long as Senate proceedings are not further disrupted by the heated federal spending debate at the end of this month, there remains a legislative window.