Journalist
Hassan Shittu
Journalist
Hassan Shittu
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North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis has warned that Congress faces a narrow window to pass long-awaited cryptocurrency legislation, cautioning that political gridlock could kill the effort early next year.
Speaking to Bloomberg on Monday, the Republican member of the Senate Banking Committee said lawmakers must act “by the first part of January, February” to advance the crypto market structure bill before election politics take over.
“I’m not optimistic about us moving much further on anything around digital assets, stablecoins, or crypto in this Congress,” Tillis said, noting that the 2026 midterm elections would likely stall progress.
His comments come as Washington remains paralyzed by a government shutdown that began on October 1, triggered by disputes over healthcare funding and subsidy cuts.
Senate, House Divide Stalls U.S. Crypto Framework as Shutdown Drags On
While the Senate continues to meet, House Speaker Mike Johnson has delayed most floor business, leaving several crypto-related bills, including the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, or CLARITY Act, in limbo.
The CLARITY Act, passed by the House of Representatives in July with strong bipartisan support in a 294–137 vote, seeks to define which digital assets fall under the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and which are overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
It aims to bring long-needed clarity to how digital assets are classified, creating a clear distinction between decentralized “digital commodities” and more centralized “restricted digital assets.”
The bill has been a key focus of congressional discussions this year, following the earlier passage of the GENIUS Act, a stablecoin bill signed into law by President Donald Trump in July.
Together, the two measures represent the most comprehensive push yet to create a federal framework for the crypto industry.
However, progress in the Senate has slowed sharply since early October, after a Democratic proposal outlining rules for decentralized finance (DeFi) was leaked to the press, drawing backlash from industry leaders.
Talks between Republicans and crypto-friendly Democrats have since stalled, with both sides preoccupied by the ongoing government shutdown.
Senator Cynthia Lummis, a leading Republican on the Banking Committee, previously said she expected the Senate’s version of the bill, the Responsible Financial Innovation Act, to become law by 2026.
But Tillis’s remarks show a growing sense of urgency among lawmakers who fear the legislative window is closing fast.
Senate Democrats and Republicans are expected to meet separately with crypto executives this week to revive discussions.
Meanwhile, other crypto-related bills, such as the Anti-Central Bank Digital Currency Surveillance State Act, which would prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a retail CBDC, are also awaiting Senate consideration.
Representative Ro Khanna has proposed new legislation to ban lawmakers from owning or launching cryptocurrencies following President Trump’s controversial pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, adding further complexity to Congress’s crypto agenda.
Bipartisan Crypto Reform Talks Intensify as Lawmakers Push for Year-End Deal
On October 20, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand led a closed-door roundtable with key industry figures, including Galaxy CEO Mike Novogratz, Kraken CEO Jesse Powell, Chainlink’s Sergey Nazarov, and Solana Policy Institute President Kristin Smith.
The meetings, attended by senior senators from both parties, were described as more focused than previous industry briefings.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, who also participated in the meetings, told CNBC that Thanksgiving had been floated as a possible deadline for finalizing the bill.
“The good news is there is strong bipartisan support and will to get this market structure legislation done,” Armstrong said.
He added that roughly 90% of the bill’s issues had already been resolved, with the remaining details expected to be worked out “once everyone gets in the room together.”
Also, White House AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks has expressed optimism that the bill could still move forward before the end of 2025.
On October 23, Sacks said the U.S. was in an “excellent position” to pass market structure legislation with bipartisan support, building on the success of the GENIUS Act.
Still, many remain skeptical about the timeline. Prediction market data from Polymarket shows only about a 20% chance that the CLARITY Act will become law by the end of 2025, down sharply from 87% in mid-July.
The U.S. debate comes as other countries move ahead with digital asset regulation. Canada, for instance, has seen rising crypto adoption but faces economic uncertainty tied to its lack of a stablecoin framework.
While momentum for crypto legislation in Washington remains fragile, industry leaders say the next few months will determine whether the U.S. can deliver long-promised clarity or once again fall into political paralysis.
For now, as Senator Tillis cautioned, if Congress fails to act by February, the current push for comprehensive crypto reform could be effectively “dead.”
