After the Senate Banking Committee advanced the GOP-led legislation on the crypto market structure, a growing number of Democratic senators have stepped forward to demand the chance to actively contribute to one of the most potentially important digital asset regulations. This development comes as the crypto regulatory framework remains center stage in the US Congress, following President Donald Trump’s adoption of a crypto-friendly administrative stance.
Crypto Structure Bill Gathers Traction
Notably, the present crypto market structure bill is led by Republican senators, including Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.), along with Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), and Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio). The updated discussion draft of the “Responsible Financial Innovation Act of 2025” was released in early September, introducing some key changes that sparked public interest. ‘
One of these changes is the proposal of a joint regulatory committee involving the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), as well as 14 non-government members from across the industry, academia, user base, and the National Institute of Science and Technology.
However, on September 9, popular crypto critic and Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) shared heavy criticism of the GOP-led bill, citing a lack of sufficient consultation with Democrats or disclosure of industry feedback. She argues that partisanship and lack of transparency threaten both the integrity and effectiveness of the legislation. Following this development, the Democrats have since released their own version of the cryptocurrency regulatory framework, backing their call for bipartisan authorship.
The Demand For Shared Authorship
In a statement released on September 19, this group of 12 Democratic senators reaffirmed their desire to be more than bystanders in the crypto structure bill. Senators Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Mark Warner (D-VA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), and Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) together called for a bipartisan authorship process matching the norm for legislation of this scale.
The statement read:
Last week, we released a framework on market structure legislation, highlighting our desire to work on this issue. As we stated then, digital assets are a $4 trillion global market that will require a considered and bipartisan approach to regulation.
We hope our Republican colleagues will agree to a bipartisan authorship process, as is the norm for legislation of this scale. Given our shared interest in moving forward quickly on this issue, we hope they will agree to reasonable requests to allow for true collaboration.
The Democratic proposed framework centers around seven key pillars, including clarifying regulatory jurisdiction, integrating digital-asset issuers and trading platforms into oversight, combating illicit finance and corruption, promoting fair regulation, and closing gaps in how non-security digital assets are regulated.
At press time, the total crypto market cap remains valued at $4.03 trillion following a 0.34% gain in the past day.
