Bessent presses Congress to pass crypto rules

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pressed Congress on Wednesday to pass a cryptocurrency bill clarifying rules for the market, as the legislation remains stuck in the Senate after months of negotiations.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Bessent argued the U.S. risks forfeiting its role as a global financial leader and pushing the industry offshore if it fails to pass the Clarity Act.

The bill, which passed the House last July, aims to lay out when digital assets are considered securities or commodities and, as a result, which financial regulator has jurisdiction over them. The Senate has not taken up the House bill and has sought to develop its own legislation.

“[T[here is one way to give developers and entrepreneurs the comfort to reshore: durable law,” Bessent wrote. “Congress acted decisively with Genius, and the Clarity Act is the necessary next step.”

The GENIUS Act, which President Trump signed into law last year, created a regulatory framework for stablecoins, digital tokens tied to a stable asset like the U.S. dollar.

“The Genius Act proved that progress is possible and the efforts on the Clarity Act to date have put the end goal in sight. Congress needs only to finish the job,” the Treasury secretary said.

“The U.S. didn’t become the world’s financial center by hesitating in moments of technological change,” he continued. “It led by setting standards that others followed. By passing comprehensive digital-asset market-structure legislation, Congress will ensure that the next generation of financial innovation is built on American rails, backed by American institutions, and denominated in American dollars.”

The legislation, often referred to more generally as market structure, was widely expected to be a more complicated endeavor than the stablecoin bill, although the industry was initially hopeful it could pass before the end of this Congress.

The market structure bill involves two separate committees in each chamber given that it spans both the securities and commodities markets. While the House panels moved one piece of legislation together, the Senate panels have each sought to draft their own portion of the bill.

The Senate Agriculture Committee advanced its half of the bill in late January without Democratic support, while the Senate Banking Committee scrapped a planned markup after its latest draft lost the support of a key industry player.

Negotiations have largely remained at a standstill over the past two months over a dispute related to the GENIUS Act. The crypto and banking industries have been locked in a battle over a provision in the law that barred stablecoin issuers from offering interest or yield payments to customers solely for holding the tokens.

The banking industry has argued the provision left open a loophole that allows third parties to offer rewards to stablecoin holders and pushed for a fix in the market structure bill. The crypto industry contends rewards are necessary for stablecoins to be able to effectively compete in the payments market.

Despite several White House meetings between the two sides, a deal has yet to publicly emerge. Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) appeared to reach a bipartisan agreement late last month, but it’s unclear whether the deal has the support of both industries.

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