{"id":176142,"date":"2025-09-23T11:12:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T11:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/176142\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T11:12:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T11:12:06","slug":"us-senate-market-structure-squabbles-cftc-chair-up-for-grabs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/176142\/","title":{"rendered":"US Senate market structure squabbles; CFTC chair up for grabs"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n <\/a> > US Senate market structure squabbles; CFTC chair up for grabs<\/p>\n

The fate of the United States Senate\u2019s market structure legislation could come down to whether the parties can play nice with each other, while the White House appears to be reconsidering its nominee for crypto oversight.<\/p>\n

As the Senate Banking Committee\u2019s Republican leadership continues to tinker with the language of its digital asset market structure bill (the Responsible Financial Innovation Act of 2025<\/a> or RFIA), Senate Dems are asking for a greater say in how this process shakes out. But the GOP doesn\u2019t seem all that interested in their input.<\/p>\n

On September 19, a dozen Senate Dems\u2014including notably pro-crypto figures like Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY)\u2014released a statement<\/a> calling on their GOP colleagues to \u201cagree to a bipartisan authorship process, as is the norm for legislation of this scale. Given our shared interest in moving forward quickly on this issue, we hope they will agree to reasonable requests to allow for true collaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement referred back to the Framework for Market Structure Legislation<\/a> released by the same dozen Dems<\/a> earlier this month. The Dems said this framework highlighted their \u201cdesire to work on this issue\u201d with their colleagues across the aisle, adding that \u201c[f]or this process to work, it must start from a place of mutual understanding. We look forward to engaging with our Republican counterparts in such a manner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Politico<\/a> quoted some Democratic aides saying the senators were hoping for greater say in crafting market structure language from scratch rather than \u201cproviding input on a GOP-written product.\u201d Dems also hope to be \u201clooped in on technical assistance offered by regulatory agencies,\u201d including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).<\/p>\n

But just the day before this bipartisan plea was issued, Committee chair Tim Scott (R-SC) was issuing tweets<\/a> talking about how the GOP was overcoming \u201cDemocrat Dysfunction\u201d and slamming their \u201cpolitical games.\u201d Which certainly makes it seem that the Dems\u2019 quest for bipartisanship isn\u2019t a cross-party concern.<\/p>\n

Au contraire, says Scott\u2019s spokesperson Jeff Naft, who told Politico the senator and other Committee GOP members have \u201ca proven track record of bipartisanship.\u201d Naft said GOP senators \u201chope their Democratic counterparts will come to the table to make America the crypto capital of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for committee member Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) claimed the GOP members have been \u201cactively soliciting feedback from our Democratic counterparts since July without receiving input,\u201d but nonetheless \u201cremain committed to bipartisan collaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Scott previously cited a desire to mark up the market structure bill by month\u2019s end, a timeline that some other GOP committee members claimed was unrealistic<\/a> given the complexity of the legislation. GOP committee staff now say they\u2019re willing to wait until the week of October 20 to mark up RFIA, although whether that indicates a greater willingness to negotiate with Dems remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

The Banking Committee is only one piece of this puzzle, as the CFTC\u2014which is to be given the lion\u2019s share of crypto oversight\u2014is overseen by the Senate Agriculture Committee, which will have its say on the RFIA before it heads to the Senate floor for a vote.<\/p>\n

GENIUS not quite a done deal?<\/p>\n

Further complicating matters is the desire by some members of the House of Representatives, including Rep. French Hill (R-AR), to see the Senate\u2019s market structure effort include tweaks to the stablecoin<\/a>-focused GENIUS Act<\/a>, which President Donald Trump signed into law<\/a> in July.<\/p>\n

The House had its own stablecoin legislation (STABLE Act<\/a>) that was ultimately sidelined in favor of approving the Senate-initiated GENIUS. Now Hill, the chief architect of the House\u2019s market structure bill (CLARITY Act<\/a>), wants the Senate to return the favor by amending GENIUS to incorporate some of CLARITY\u2019s stablecoin language. This could include specifics on banning non-financial companies from issuing their own stablecoins and holding stablecoin issuers accountable through the use of outside auditors.<\/p>\n

Speaking of GENIUS, September 18 saw the U.S. Treasury Department announce<\/a> plans to open a public comment period on how Treasury will implement various GENIUS provisions. While the comment process has yet to officially open, the public will be given 30 days in which to submit comments, along with \u201cdata and other information.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Treasury\u2019s earlier request for comment<\/a> on \u201cinnovative or novel methods, techniques, or strategies that regulated financial institutions use, or could potentially use, to detect illicit activity involving digital assets,\u201d remains open until October 17.<\/p>\n

Back to the top \u2191<\/a><\/p>\n

Transatlantic crypto taskforce is go<\/p>\n

The Treasury Department made international news on Monday with the announcement<\/a> of a partnership with its United Kingdom counterparts on establishing a Transatlantic Taskforce for Markets of the Future. The news follows Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent\u2019s visit to the U.K. last week to meet with Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves.<\/p>\n

The Taskforce has been given a mandate to recommend ways to \u201cenhance collaboration on capital markets and digital assets and other innovative financial activities.\u201d The Taskforce will be given 180 days to report its findings to the U.K.-U.S. Financial Regulatory Working Group (FRWG).<\/p>\n

Specifically, the Taskforce will explore options for \u201cshort-to-medium term collaboration on digital assets while legislation and regulatory regimes are still developing, as well as options for long-term collaboration and additional opportunities for wholesale digital markets innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n

A second goal is to explore options \u201cto improve links between our capital markets to enhance the growth and competitiveness of both U.K. and U.S. markets, focusing on reducing burdens for U.K. and U.S. firms raising capital cross-border.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Taskforce will be chaired by officials from both HM Treasury and U.S. Treasury. Additional input will come from both countries\u2019 financial regulators, as well as \u201cleading industry experts to ensure that its recommendations are informed by what matters most to industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently sought feedback<\/a> for establishing minimum standards for digital asset firms seeking to operate in the U.K. The Financial Times<\/a> reported Monday that the FCA has also begun accelerating the process by which it considers applications for its crypto registration scheme, following widespread criticism that the regulator was dragging its heels.<\/p>\n

The FCA\u2019s crypto application approval rate has shot up from just 15% over the past five years to 45% over the past six months. But the FCA\u2019s new energy may have been assisted by its own sluggishness, as the number of applications<\/a> has fallen by nearly one-half since 2023.<\/p>\n

David Geale, the FCA\u2019s executive director for payments\/digital finance, told the FT that the regulator has \u201cmade a conscious effort to put resources into this.\u201d This includes offering \u2018preapproval meetings\u2019 with case officers so applicants have a better understanding what\u2019s expected of them.<\/p>\n

Back to the top \u2191<\/a><\/p>\n

Crypto retirement advice<\/p>\n

Monday saw Rep. Hill and eight other GOP members of the House Committee on Financial Services send a letter<\/a> sent to SEC Chair Paul Atkins expressing their support for Trump\u2019s executive order<\/a> to allow \u2018alternative assets\u2019 in Americans\u2019 employer-sponsored 401(k) retirement programs.<\/p>\n

The order, issued in August, stated the need for these programs to widen their horizons for \u201cbetter returns and diversification.\u201d The order directed the SEC to revise its regulations and guidance to eliminate possible confusion in the minds of 401(k) managers as to what will be permitted under this change.<\/p>\n

The Department of Labor was similarly tasked with clarifying its position on alternative assets, along with \u201cthe appropriate fiduciary process associated with offering asset allocation funds containing investments in alternative assets.\u201d<\/p>\n

The nine GOP reps say they \u201capplaud\u201d the goals of Trump\u2019s EO and \u201cencourage the SEC to provide swift assistance to the Secretary of Labor and to make any necessary revisions to its current regulations and guidance. We also request the SEC review bipartisan legislation being advanced in the 119th Congress concerning accredited investors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back to the top \u2191<\/a><\/p>\n

CFTC chair a hard seat to fill<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the drawn-out saga of who will run the CFTC has taken yet another turn. On September 18, Bloomberg<\/a> reported that the White House was now considering \u201cadditional candidates\u201d to fill the CFTC chairman\u2019s seat, suggesting that Trump\u2019s original nominee, Brian Quintenz, might never get his long-delayed confirmation vote.<\/p>\n

While the report didn\u2019t confirm that Quintenz\u2019s quest was now hopeless, \u201can additional slate of potential picks\u201d is being considered, including \u201cgovernment officials focused on crypto policy.\u201d These reportedly include Michael Selig, chief counsel at the SEC\u2019s Crypto Task Force<\/a>, and Tyler Williams, a former Galaxy Digital<\/a> exec who currently counsels Treasury\u2019s Bessent on crypto matters.<\/p>\n

Quintenz was nominated by Trump in February, but the Senate Ag Committee\u2019s vote on the nomination was cancelled at the last minute not once but twice<\/a> in late July for unexplained reasons. It later came out that Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the brothers behind the Gemini<\/a> (NASDAQ: GEMI<\/a>) digital asset exchange<\/a>, had lobbied Trump<\/a> on their view that Quintenz wasn\u2019t right for the role.<\/p>\n

Tyler later confirmed these reports<\/a>, claiming that Quintenz held views that are \u201cactually quite antithetical to the ethos of crypto and decentralization.\u201d A group of crypto organizations then went to bat for Quintenz<\/a>, and Quintenz himself made public some text messages<\/a> between himself and Cameron, in which the latter appeared to be pressing Quintenz to promise some kind of compensation was in store for grief the twins\/Gemini experienced<\/a> at the hands of the CFTC\u2019s previous leadership.<\/p>\n

Back to the top \u2191<\/a><\/p>\n

CFTC digital asset subcommittee staffs up<\/p>\n

The CFTC is normally overseen by a chair and four commissioners, but is currently down to a single commissioner<\/a>, Caroline Pham, following a string of resignations for which Trump has yet to nominate replacements. Regardless, the CFTC is expanding elsewhere, including new members of its Global Markets Advisory Committee and its Digital Asset Markets Subcommittee.<\/p>\n

On September 19, Pham announced<\/a> a new co-chair of the Subcommittee. Scott Lucas, managing director\/head of digital assets at J.P. Morgan (NASDAQ: JPM<\/a>). Lucas will serve alongside existing co-chair Sandy Kaul, the exec VP\/head of innovation at Franklin Templeton. Lucas replaces outgoing co-chair Caroline Butler, BNY\u2019s global head of digital assets.<\/p>\n

Pham, who plans to step down once the CFTC\u2019s new chair is appointed, welcomed Lucas, saying his \u201cdeep knowledge and experience with distributed ledger technology and the rapid evolution of digital asset market structure will be indispensable.\u201d<\/p>\n

New members added to the Subcommittee are Katherine Minarik, CLO at Uniswap Labs<\/a>; Avery Ching, CEO\/co-founder of Aptos Labs<\/a>; James Hill, BNY\u2019s managing director\/head of structural innovation; and Ben Sherwin, general counsel at Chainlink Labs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Back to the top \u2191<\/a><\/p>\n

WLF back Winklevii PAC<\/p>\n

We still don\u2019t know for sure who\u2019s behind the new political action committee The Fellowship PAC<\/a>, but the Winklevoss twins\u2019 own pro-Trump PAC (the Digital Freedom Fund<\/a>, or DFF) recently picked up an endorsement from the president\u2019s decentralized finance<\/a> (DeFi) platform World Liberty Financial<\/a> (WLF).<\/p>\n

On September 17, WLF tweeted<\/a> that it is \u201cproud to stand behind\u201d DFF with the twins \u201cand other crypto industry leaders, to advance President Trump\u2019s crypto vision.\u201d That was followed by near-identical endorsements from WLF co-founder\/CEO Zach Witkoff<\/a> and co-founder\/COO Zak Folkman<\/a>. The specifics\u2014financial or otherwise\u2014of this \u2018stand\u2019 haven\u2019t been disclosed.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, WLF\u2019s proposal to buy-and-burn its governance token WLFI has met with overwhelming approval from WLFI holders. The proposal, in which WLF will use \u201call fees earned by WLFI\u2019s protocol-owned liquidity\u201d to repurchase and \u201cpermanently\u201d burn WLFI, reportedly met with a 99.84% \u2018yes\u2019 vote<\/a>.<\/p>\n

WLF announced the plan shortly after WLFI was permitted to begin public trading<\/a> on September 1. The token followed the traditional soar-and-sink trajectory that crypto fans have come to loathe, so WLF decided on a plan to reclaim WLFI \u201cfrom those not aligned with WLFI\u2019s future.\u201d<\/p>\n

WLF hasn\u2019t offered any estimates as to how much WLFI will be bought\/burnt via this process, but WLFI could definitely use a boost. News of the vote gave the token a temporary lift to over $0.25 but the price fell below $0.20 by Monday night.<\/p>\n

Right on time, the Accountable.US watchdog group published a 34-page report detailing some of the individuals\/entities believed to be among the most significant WLFI holders. Titled American Sell-Out<\/a>, the report claims WLFI was snapped up by (among others) wallets associated with North Korea\u2019s Lazarus Group<\/a> of hackers and other unsavory characters.<\/p>\n

Forbes published its own report on Monday with the title Here\u2019s How Much The Trump Kids Have Made Because Of The Presidency<\/a>, with the family\u2019s numerous crypto ventures playing a significant role. Trump\u2019s son Eric (another WLF co-founder) is flagged as having \u201cmade more money on crypto than any of his siblings,\u201d with Don Jr. (yet another WLF co-founder) in second place and young Barron Trump (also a WLF co-founder) a distant third.<\/p>\n

Back to the top \u2191<\/a><\/p>\n

Watch: Breaking down solutions to blockchain regulation hurdles<\/p>\n

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