House Democrats Plan New Crypto Market Structure Bill

House Democrats are preparing to introduce a cryptocurrency market structure bill in the next Congress following their sweep of legislative control. The proposal seeks to expand the Crypto Investor and Consumer Bill of Rights authored by Representative Maxine Waters and incorporate Democratic provisions from the Clarity Act.

House Democrats intend to shift the regulatory balance by increasing the authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission while reducing the role of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. This approach reverses the industry-backed design of the Republican-led Clarity Act, which passed the House in July 2025 but failed a Senate cloture vote in September.

The proposed legislation is expected to include stricter ethics rules that would restrict the cryptocurrency activities of President Donald Trump and other federal officials. While Democrats now hold legislative leverage, any new bill will require the signature of President Trump to become law. Senator Ruben Gallego characterized the failure of the previous Republican effort by stating, "The industry and the Republicans screwed up," and noted that the previous version "was the best bill they were going to get."