The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee has taken a significant step forward for cryptocurrency regulation by advancing a key piece of market structure legislation. On Thursday, the committee voted 12–11 along party lines to pass its section of the broader Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, with no Democrats voting in favor.
The approved text, known as the Digital Commodity Brokers Act, establishes a regulatory framework under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for digital commodity exchanges, brokers, and dealers. The framework is designed to cover assets like memecoins and network tokens, while explicitly excluding securities and stablecoins. Key provisions include SEC-CFTC joint rule-making, protection of client assets, registration requirements, federal priority over state laws, and exemptions for developers.
Committee Chairman John Boozman stated, "After months of work, we have made significant progress... Now it's time to move this process forward." However, the partisan vote highlights the challenges ahead. Ranking Democrat Senator Amy Klobuchar noted, "The progress that has been made here is good, but I think we believe that we're not quite done yet," expressing hope for continued negotiation.
The bill now moves to the Senate Banking Committee, which is considered a tougher hurdle due to more controversial elements in its version, including questions around stablecoin yield. The White House plans to host a meeting next week to find common ground among crypto, banking, Republican, Democratic, and administration interests.
Further political complications arose, with lead Democrat negotiator Senator Corey Booker criticizing President Donald Trump, stating the White House has made progress "infinitely harder" due to ethics concerns. The path to becoming law requires the bill to clear the Banking Committee, be combined with other versions, pass a full Senate vote, return to the House (which already passed its own version with an overwhelming majority), and finally be signed by the President.
