Daily Crypto Briefs 
WASHINGTON, Jan. 22, 2026
Senate Banking Republicans are set to delay a major U.S. crypto market structure bill until late February or March as the panel turns to housing policy, Bloomberg reported, with bitcoin trading around $89,300.
The delay lands two days after SEC Chair Paul Atkins said Congress was close to passing a market structure bill clarifying the SEC and CFTC split, as we covered in SEC Chair Says Crypto Market Structure Bill Ready to Pass.
Market snapshot: Data showed bitcoin up about 1.1% over 24 hours near $89,305, with estimated 24 hour volume around $46.0 billion. Ether was up about 0.7% near $2,940, with estimated 24 hour volume around $27.4 billion.
Senate Banking Chairman Tim Scott said “everyone remains at the table working in good faith,” while describing talks on digital asset market structure legislation as ongoing.
Senate Banking Republicans are now prioritizing housing policy tied to President Donald Trump’s affordability push, pushing crypto legislation out toward late February or March. The committee had listed its Jan. 15 executive session markup as postponed on its markups calendar, and a new vote date was not posted.
Senate Banking turns to housing affordability under Trump
Senate Banking’s agenda covers both financial regulation and housing, and Scott has tied the committee’s housing work to Trump’s affordability push under the Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream to Housing Act.
The practical result is calendar risk. A market structure bill can look close for weeks, then slide when floor time or committee bandwidth shifts to another priority. That pattern has shown up repeatedly in crypto policy, where deadlines are often political signals more than binding schedules.
A US crypto market structure bill still has no clear path
Market structure is Capitol Hill shorthand for the rules that determine which agency regulates what, and how companies register to operate. For crypto, the high stakes pieces are the SEC vs CFTC split, what counts as a security versus a commodity style token, and what compliance lane exchanges and brokers use for listings, custody, and surveillance.
The closest public text for the debate is the House’s Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 (H.R. 3633), known as the CLARITY Act, which lays out definitions and a registration framework. Our earlier explainer on the House track is in CLARITY Act timeline slips to 2026 as Democrats raise Trump crypto ethics concerns, and we covered last week’s committee action in US Senate Voting On CLARITY Act Has Been Canceled.
Industry lobbying has made the politics harder. The Financial Times reported Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong pulled support for the bill in mid January after raising concerns about restrictions he said could hit stablecoin rewards and tokenized equities.
The delay also lands as regulators and banks keep pressing their case on stablecoins. That fight has already shown up in the custody and payments debate we laid out in Banks Want Your Stablecoins, even as separate legislation moved faster on the issuer side after the GENIUS Act became law, which we broke down in The Genius Act and the Stablecoin Market.
The longer the bill sits, the more the U.S. market stays stuck with piecemeal rules and enforcement actions.
For traders and builders, the sharpest line to watch is whether lawmakers protect self custody wallets and non custodial DeFi software from being treated like intermediaries. That piece was not disclosed in detail in the latest reporting, and it is often where negotiations get political fast.
For a broader guide to what Washington has already done and what is still unsettled, see US Crypto Regulation 2026: SEC, CFTC, Stablecoins, Taxes.
What to watch next for the delayed crypto bill
Bloomberg’s report put the next window at late February or March, and the Senate Banking Committee has not posted a new markup date on its public calendar. The next clear signal is a rescheduled executive session notice, plus any updated bill text or committee summary that shows which parts were rewritten after industry objections.
Traders will also be watching whether housing legislation crowds out more committee time, since that can push crypto policy into a slower cycle even when negotiators say the substance is close. Until a date is posted, Washington’s crypto calendar remains an unreliable indicator for on chain builders.
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Primary sources and further reading
| Source | Title |
|---|---|
| | Bloomberg: Crypto law puts housing first in Senate |
| | Senate Banking: Scott statement on market structure markup (Jan. 14, 2026) |
| | Senate Banking: Markups calendar |
| | GovInfo: H.R. 3633 bill text (HTML) |
| | CoinGecko API: BTC and ETH spot snapshot |
| | CoinGecko API: BTC 7-day price snapshot (daily) |
Fact-checked by: Daily Crypto Briefs Fact-Check Desk
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a US crypto market structure bill?
It is legislation that sets the rules for how crypto trading and related services are supervised in the U.S., including how platforms register and how oversight is split between the SEC and the CFTC.
Why is the Senate delaying the crypto market structure bill?
Senate Banking Republicans are turning to housing policy tied to President Donald Trump’s affordability push, while the committee has also said bipartisan negotiations on market structure are still ongoing. A firm schedule was not disclosed in the committee statement.
Is the CLARITY Act the Senate bill?
No. The CLARITY Act is a House bill, H.R. 3633. Senate leaders have been working on a parallel framework, and final Senate text was not disclosed in the report.
When is the next Senate Banking vote on crypto market structure?
A new markup date was not posted on the Senate Banking Committee’s public calendar at the time of writing. Bloomberg reported the bill could slip to late February or March.
What should crypto users and traders watch next?
Watch for a rescheduled executive session notice, any new bill text or committee summary, and whether the draft draws clear lines around self custody wallets and non custodial DeFi software. Those details were not disclosed in the latest reporting.