Key Notes
- House Democrats are discussing a broader crypto market structure bill for the next Congress.
- A larger SEC role and a smaller CFTC role are among the ideas reported by Eleanor Terrett.
- Waters’ earlier consumer safeguards and restrictions on officials’ crypto activities could return.
House Democrats are discussing a new crypto market structure bill for the next Congress that could give the Securities and Exchange Commission a larger supervisory role and revive restrictions on federal officials’ crypto activities, according to journalist Eleanor Terrett.
Terrett reported Wednesday that three industry sources who had spoken with Democratic staffers described the talks. The initiative would expand Representative Maxine Waters’ Crypto Investor and Consumer Bill of Rights, offered as an amendment to the CLARITY Act in 2025, into a broader legislative package.
The report describes an effort under discussion. It does not identify an introduced bill, an agreed text or a timetable for committee votes.
A Larger Role for the SEC
Ideas under consideration include increasing the SEC’s role in supervising crypto markets and limiting the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s role, Terrett said. The proposal could combine Waters’ unsuccessful House provisions with measures Senate Democrats negotiated with Republicans before September’s cloture vote.
That would reopen the central argument over market structure: which agency supervises which assets, trading platforms and intermediaries. The balance of authority matters because it shapes registration obligations and the protections customers receive, rather than simply changing the name of the regulator.
The discussions follow the midterm election result, which has put the direction of Washington’s crypto agenda back in play. Changes remain proposals; the talks themselves do not transfer any existing regulatory powers.
Waters’ Earlier Plan Focused on Customer Protections
The House Rules Committee’s 2025 record lists Waters’ investor protection package as amendment 31. Its provisions included round-the-clock customer service, fiduciary and best-execution duties, restrictions on front-running and customer custody arrangements designed to remain separate in bankruptcy.
The package also proposed withdrawals within 24 hours and monthly proof-of-reserves reporting accompanied by an auditor’s attestation. Insurance or coverage comparable to Securities Investor Protection Corporation protection was another element. These were proposed safeguards, not protections already extended to every crypto customer.
A motion to allow consideration of amendment 31 failed 4–8 in the committee. That procedural defeat helps explain why provisions from the earlier effort could return in a new package; it was not a vote on passage of a standalone consumer protection law.
Ethics Rules Remain a Political Dividing Line
Terrett said further ethics provisions would likely seek to restrict the crypto activities of President Donald Trump and other federal officials. Republicans were describing the initiative as a “messaging bill,” according to her report.
The ethics debate overlaps with Democrats’ separate plans for Trump-family investigations. Oversight inquiries and market structure legislation would proceed through different processes: one examines conduct and financial ties, while the other would change the rules governing the industry.
Whether the reported discussions produce a bill with enough support to advance will depend on the eventual text and negotiations in the next Congress.
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