Senate Banking Committee chairman Tim Scott said the committee will vote next week on a crypto market structure bill that he says is meant to ‘democratize our economy’ and make it easier for Americans to cope with rising costs by widening access to the crypto market on clearer terms.
Scott, a Republican from South Carolina, told Breitbart News on Tuesday that the panel has spent more than six months working on the legislation and sharing different versions with members before bringing it forward, aiming to set out a lighter crypto framework that widens access while lowering costs and tightening safeguards.
“I think it’s important for us to get on the record and vote. So, next Thursday, we’ll have a vote on market structure. We have worked tirelessly for the last six-plus months making sure that we had multiple drafts available to every member of the committee,” he said.
Scott added that Republicans want 2026 to be “the year of affordability” by “democratizing our economy” and argued that one of the fastest ways to do that is through market structure legislation that sets “rules of the road so that everyday Americans see their costs go down, their money go up,” casting the markup as the starting point for President Trump’s affordability agenda.
Bill Seeks to Cut Costs, Define Rules and Keep Crypto Jobs in America
The legislation is still being finalized ahead of next week’s markup, but it is described as a light-touch regulatory framework for the crypto industry. The bill aims to lower transaction costs through competition and clarity, provide strong consumer and investor protections, install anti-money laundering and illicit finance safeguards, and give clearer definitions so businesses know how they can be protected.
The bill also aims to clarify the treatment of decentralized finance under federal law and minimize regulatory overlap by clearly defining the digital assets under the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Scott said he is “optimistic” the bill will pass out of the Banking Committee next Thursday, then clear the Senate and go on to be signed by President Donald Trump.
“I mean, frankly, just as long as we continue to emphasize the fact that 2026 being the year of affordability, one of the fastest ways for us to see it manifest is in the areas of market structure that will determine the future of America’s global position of dominance. I want to make sure that we stay there, and that’s why President Trump wants us to be the crypto capital,” Scott concluded.
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