US Lawmakers to Revisit Crypto Market Structure Bill After Weather Delay
US lawmakers are expected to return to Capitol Hill on Wednesday after inclement weather delayed committee meetings and votes, with attention turning to how senators will handle proposed changes to a long-awaited bill on the structure of the crypto market. The Senate Agriculture Committee is scheduled to meet for a vote on the Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act (DCIA) on Thursday, a bill aimed at creating a framework for the market structure of digital assets.
The DCIA is one of the chamber’s first attempts to advance market structure legislation, while the Senate Banking Committee postponed its markup after Coinbase withdrew its support for the bill. The 11 DCIA changes publicly available at the time of publication included proposals to ban lawmakers and White House officials from working with the crypto industry, force companies to compete on credit card fees, and combat foreign interference in U.S. markets.
Another change would prevent the law from being implemented until the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has at least four commissioners at its helm. 
Senator Amy Klobuchar’s proposed amendment to the CFTC. Source: Senate Agriculture Committee
Proposed Amendments and Opposition
The CFTC change proposed by Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar was a response to the shortage of commissioners at the federal financial regulator following the retirement of acting Chairwoman Caroline Pham and other members in 2025. Klobuchar suggested that the market structure bill, if enacted, would not take effect until “at least four commissioners” of the CFTC are confirmed by the Senate.
According to the latest draft of the DCIA, released on January 21, the bill would establish clear roles for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the CFTC in regulating digital assets. However, some lawmakers and industry leaders in the Banking and Agriculture Committees have pushed back against drafts of the bill with provisions on stablecoin rewards, tokenized stocks, decentralized finance, and ethics.
Uncertainty and Next Steps
It’s unclear what amendments will pass in the Agriculture Committee on Thursday or how lawmakers can consolidate the bill with the Banking Committee, which has not yet reset its Jan. 15 markup. The agency is expected to have five commissioners, one of whom will serve as chair. After Pham’s departure in December, only Chairman Michael Selig, a Republican chosen by US President Donald Trump, remains.
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