The U.S. Senate has postponed the decision on the long-awaited Crypto Market Structure Bill. They are now waiting until the beginning of 2026. Politicians ran out of time because internal conflicts halted an agreement on key parts.

This delay creates continued uncertainty for cryptocurrency exchanges, issuers, and institutional investors operating in the U.S.

Why was the law on the structure of the cryptocurrency market delayed?

The law is based on the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, which has already been passed by the House of Representatives. The goal is to clarify how digital assets should be regulated. The law divides oversight between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

But unresolved disputes regarding oversight, DeFi regulation, and consumer protection slowed the work.

The Senate negotiators had difficulty reconciling differences between the banking committee and the agriculture committee. These committees oversee the financial supervisory authority and the commodities commission, and both want control over the crypto markets.

Therefore, the politicians could not agree on a text that both sides could support before the meeting ended.

The regulation around DeFi also became a major obstacle. Some senators wanted to grant exemptions for decentralized protocols without a verifier.

Others warned that broad exceptions could weaken oversight and create gaps in regulation.

Consumer groups put additional pressure by opposing certain parts of the law. They argue that the proposal diminishes the authority of the financial supervisory authority and could weaken investor protection following several major crypto crashes.

This criticism led to more changes and slower negotiations.

Despite the delay, the law differs significantly from previously adopted crypto laws. Unlike the GENIUS Act, which only applies to stablecoins, the market structure law targets the entire crypto trading.

It sets rules for exchanges, brokers, custodians, and token issuers under a common federal system.

The law also goes further than oversight through courts. It introduces clear rules for asset classes and reduces reliance on case law to determine whether tokens are securities or commodities.

Politicians say that this approach would replace uncertainty with clear laws.