The U.S. Senate advances digital asset regulation bill, potentially redefining the boundaries of authority between the CFTC and SEC

【BlockBeats】There are reports that the U.S. Senate Banking Committee is expected to initiate the revision process of the “Responsible Financial Innovation Act” in the second week of January this year. This long-delayed regulatory legislation is finally making progress.

The reasons for the delay are not complicated—Democrats have always had concerns about decentralized finance (DeFi), coupled with the federal government experiencing the longest shutdown in history, which stalled the entire review process. Now it seems these obstacles are being gradually removed.

Industry insiders reveal that the Senate will hold a revision meeting at least in the second week of January for a pending market structure legislation. Interestingly, the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee is also simultaneously advancing its own version of the Market Structure Act, which may later be submitted to the full chamber for a vote. This means multiple committees are working in parallel.

This Market Structure Act is actually the “Digital Asset Market Clarity Act” (CLARITY) passed by the House of Representatives in July last year. What is its core purpose? To grant the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) more authority in digital asset regulation. According to early versions of the Senate bill, the CFTC and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will have increased collaboration in cryptocurrency regulation—essentially, the two agencies need to clarify their respective responsibilities and boundaries to avoid duplication or conflicts.