Three Democrats could determine the fate of Washington's crypto market-structure bill

The window for Congress to pass a framework for regulating the U.S. crypto market is closing, CoinDesk reported, as lawmakers head toward adjournment without a vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. The report says the bill's prospects could change sharply after the 2026 midterms. If Democrats retake the House, committee leadership could shift to lawmakers seen as more skeptical of pro-crypto legislation. Prediction market Kalshi currently assigns Democrats an 84% chance of winning back a House majority. Polymarket shows expectations for the CLARITY Act passing in the current session slipping below 50%. At the center of the proposal is a classification framework that would sort digital assets as commodities, securities, or neither, clarifying the respective jurisdictions of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The bill also covers platform registration requirements, token project disclosures, and aims to reduce overlapping SEC and CFTC enforcement actions against the same venue. CoinDesk highlighted three Democrats as potential power brokers if committee gavels change hands: Rep. Maxine Waters of California, who could retake the House Financial Services Committee chair; Rep. Shontel Brown of Ohio, who may lead the House Agriculture Committee; and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who could chair the Senate Banking Committee if Democrats control the Senate. Those committees are viewed as central to advancing any crypto market-structure legislation. Historically, all three have prioritized investor protection, disclosure rules and stronger enforcement tools over the industry's push for regulatory certainty, the report said, raising the odds of a rewrite rather than a clean passage. Waters, for instance, forcefully opposed Facebook's Libra stablecoin initiative in 2019, citing systemic risk, consumer protection and the concentration of financial power in major technology platforms. Still, she has not ruled out crypto legislation altogether and took part in 2022 stablecoin talks, pressing for tougher safeguards. If the CLARITY Act lands in a Democratically led committee, likely revisions include expanded disclosure requirements, narrower exemptions for token issuers and increased enforcement authority for regulators, according to the report. For the industry, that could translate into extended negotiations even if the bill is not rejected outright. Supporters argue that clearer lines between the SEC and CFTC would make the market more attractive to institutional capital. Charles Schwab has previously described the CLARITY Act as a key catalyst for its digital assets business. Critics counter that overly broad carve-outs could weaken securities-law investor protections.