A much-anticipated hearing to vote on sweeping crypto legislation is happening.
On Friday, the Senate Banking Committee said that on May 14 it will be holding its markup to advance a bill that would regulate the industry comprehensively at the federal level for the first time.
Next week marks the Senate Banking Committee's second attempt to hold a markup after it cancelled one in January after major crypto exchange Coinbase pulled its support over concerns, including the treatment of stablecoin rewards. That issue has been seemingly resolved after two key senators released language last week, though bank trade groups have argued that it "falls short."
A few things need to happen before a bill is passed. The Senate Banking Committee needs to advance its version, and then reconcile that with the version the Senate Agriculture Committee advanced earlier in the year.
That bill moved forward without any Democratic support in the agriculture panel, citing President Donald Trump's crypto interests as a major obstacle. Both Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, launched memecoins ahead of the inauguration, and his family has led the DeFi and stablecoin project World Liberty Financial, raking in $1.4 billion, Bloomberg reported in January.
At the time of the Senate Agriculture Committee markup, Democrats proposed amendments that would block the president, vice president, lawmakers, and other federal officials from making certain financial transactions involving digital assets, but these amendments were ultimately not included in the bill.
After being reconciled, the full Senate will vote on the bill, where those conflicts of interest concerns are expected to be brought up. On Wednesday, Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, one of the bill's most prominent negotiators, warned that there would be no deal without an ethics provision in place. She also noted a push for consumer protection language in the bill, including around illicit finance and anti-terrorism funding.
If a bill passes out of the Senate with 60 votes, it heads to the House for the next steps. The House passed its version last year with bipartisan support. The last step would be the bill being sent to Trump’s desk for his signature.
Lawmakers also face a time crunch as the number of dates to vote dwindle and upcoming midterm elections come front and center.