Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis, one of the main sponsors of a bill to structure the digital asset market in the US Congress, said that despite “things that…” the legislation is moving closer to passage [she] not expected” in 2025.
Speaking at the DC Blockchain Summit hosted by the Digital Chamber on Wednesday, Lummis said she had thought the crypto industry would already be celebrating a “victory lap” for the market structure bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in July 2025. She said that “the main thing” holding up the legislation was the battle over stablecoin yield and rewards between representatives of the banking and crypto industries.
“We are so close this time,” Lummis told summit participants. “Some of the people who are working very closely on the question of returns versus rewards have worked closely with the White House […] We are working with our members who have tried to find a compromise on this issue. We think we’ve done it.”
Senator Cynthia Lummis speaks on Wednesday. Source: DC Blockchain Summit
Lummis sits on the Senate Banking Committee, which is responsible for the bill's stalling in Congress after its chairman, Tim Scott, indefinitely postponed a price increase on the bill in January. The Senate Agriculture Committee introduced its version of the bill in January, but both bills must be combined in some way to resolve issues related to commodities and securities laws before a floor vote.
The Wyoming senator said her colleagues would plan a surge in April after Congress' Easter recess. As of Wednesday, the Banking Committee had not postponed any addition to the bill.
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Topics fueling debate among lawmakers include tokenized stocks, ethics – for elected officials who may benefit from investing in the crypto industry – stablecoin yield and decentralized finance. The White House has held three meetings with crypto and banking industry representatives in 2026 to advance legislation.
“We believe we have solved the DeFi problem,” Lummis said, adding that there are still some issues with money transmitters and clarifying the definition of crypto assets as securities or commodities.
Can Congress adopt market structure before 2027?
One of the problems for supporters of the market structure law was the possible impact of the 2026 midterm elections, which took place in November and led to a reshuffle of Congress in January. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 33 in the Senate are up for grabs, giving Democrats the opportunity to take both chambers away from Republicans.
“This may be our only chance to finalize the market structure,” Lummis said in a Wednesday post, referring to the White House’s support of the bill.
Lummis announced in December that she would not seek re-election. Cointelegraph reached out to her office for comment on the midterm elections but had not received a response at the time of publication.
“If we don’t pass the CLARITY Act by May, digital assets legislation won’t pass for the foreseeable future,” Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno said Wednesday.
Speaking at the DC Blockchain Summit on Tuesday, Scott said he expects to include a proposal to regulate stablecoin yields in the bill “before the end of this week.” His Republican colleague, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, said last week that he did not expect the Banking Committee to pass the market structure before April, but would instead prioritize a controversial bill on voting requirements.
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