Industry representatives met Thursday with Wall Street lobbyists to resolve disputes over pending Senate legislation as lawmakers prepare for a Jan. 15 committee vote that could determine whether comprehensive crypto regulation advances this year.
What Happened: Private Meeting
Representatives from SIFMA, a major financial industry trade group, met with crypto policy leaders including delegates from Andreessen Horowitz and the DeFi Education Fund to address disagreements over the market structure bill.
Decrypt sources characterized the discussions as productive, with signs of movement on decentralized finance regulations that have drawn Wall Street opposition.
SIFMA has objected to regulatory exemptions for certain DeFi services and their developers, according to sources familiar with the talks.
The group has also pushed to retroactively prohibit yield-generating, dollar-pegged stablecoins that were permitted under the GENIUS Act signed by President Donald Trump last summer, though a SIFMA representative told Decrypt the organization has not taken a position on yield-bearing stablecoins.
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Why It Matters: Tight Timeline
Senate Banking Committee chair Tim Scott (R-SC) scheduled the markup for Jan. 15 despite concerns from industry participants that the accelerated timeline could derail bipartisan negotiations.
More than 50 members of The Digital Chamber met with senators and White House officials Thursday to advocate for language protecting DeFi software developers, who have faced criminal prosecution under existing money transmitter laws.
Stakeholders agree the bill requires bipartisan support at next week's committee markup to have any chance of passing the full Senate.
One crypto industry insider expressed frustration with the compressed schedule, questioning whether an arbitrary deadline should threaten the first substantive bipartisan crypto legislation.
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