Crypto Christmas? Senate Races to Crown America the World’s Crypto Capital

With President Trump indicating his desire to sign it into law if it passes Congress, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee under Chairman Tim Scott is preparing for a crucial December 2025 vote on significant cryptocurrency market structure legislation. Framing the bill as a move toward making America the "crypto capital of the world," Scott laid out the timeline in a recent Fox News appearance, aiming to get it to the full Senate floor in early 2026. Notwithstanding Scott's claims of Democratic stalling, this move builds on bipartisan momentum following the House's approval of the associated CLARITY Act in July 2025. Republican candidates get major political support from Trump's Monday endorsement, perhaps expediting the law under continuous discussion.

The bill's main goal is to eliminate the regulatory conflict between the SEC and CFTC by designating Bitcoin and Ether as digital commodities under CFTC supervision and resolving widely contested jurisdictional boundaries. It demands that cryptocurrency exchanges segregate customer money, implement conflict-of-interest protections, and provide strong disclosures in order to support market integrity following FTX fallout. These regulations seek to safeguard investors while promoting innovation in accordance with Trump's pro-crypto plan, January executive orders for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, a ban on central bank digital currencies, and a Digital Asset Markets Working Group.

Although improvement is obvious, DeFi regulation is still a contentious topic in bipartisan negotiations with Democrats raising worries about money laundering and systemic hazards in decentralized protocols, so pressing for more strict measures. Republicans and industry proponents, on the other hand, support little involvement so as not to stifle expansion. This conflict resonates earlier 2025 successes when Trump signed the July GENIUS Act, which sought to control stablecoins by means of seizure and freeze capabilities for issuers. As Scott pushes for a contract before year's end, overcoming these divisions will be essential to the bill's success.