Democrats Draft Wider Crypto Market Structure Bill After Midterms

House Democrats aren't retreating on crypto — they're reloading. According to journalist Eleanor Terrett, lawmakers are discussing plans to expand the Crypto Investor and Consumer Bill of Rights into a full-blown crypto market structure bill next Congress, Decrypt reported. That proposal would fold in Democratic priorities, hand the SEC more authority to police crypto markets, and shrink the CFTC's role.

On paper, the midterms looked like a gut punch for crypto policy. President Trump's Republican administration has been widely cast as the pro-crypto side, while Democrats were pegged as the hostile ones. But experts told Decrypt the tide may be shifting, with crypto policy morphing into a bipartisan fight. Advocacy group Stand With Crypto endorsed 45 candidates; its tracker showed 27 wins, 12 losses and six races still live. Nearly half of those endorsements went to Democrats.

Stand With Crypto executive director Mason Lynaugh said the group was proud that a majority of its picks won, thanking those headed out of Washington for going to bat for crypto-owning Americans. The group also celebrated more than 50 new pro-crypto members arriving in Congress, and pointed to Florida's 9th District, where Democrat Darren Soto squeaked through by 1,477 votes.

Not everyone survived. CoinShares head of research James Butterfill called Wisconsin Republican Bryan Steil a 'meaningful loss' — Steil chaired the House digital assets subcommittee and was deep in efforts to push the Clarity Act, which stalled in the Senate earlier this year. Butterfill flagged wins for Democrats Chris Pappas and James Talarico, plus Wyoming Republican Harriet Hageman, but warned the real challenge is converting that support into actual legislation.

GSR research vice president Carlos Guzman put it bluntly: 'I wouldn't say it's game over for Clarity, but passing it has become tougher.' He said some Democrats back clearer crypto rules but wouldn't put the issue high on their agenda, and any deal will likely demand stronger consumer protection and conflicts-of-interest provisions. The Clarity Act has been kicked around since 2025, with Democrats objecting to Trump's crypto entanglements and Senator Elizabeth Warren pushing to bar officials and their families from profiting off the sector.

Guzman also noted the election doesn't swap out SEC or CFTC leadership or halt their rulemaking — though Democrats can now lean on agency funding and future appointments, inviting more scrutiny of regulatory calls. Butterfill argued crypto is growing less dependent on the Clarity Act as both agencies push clarity on their own, and warned AI regulation could steal Congress's attention. Bitcoin traded around $76,820, down 4.1% on the day per Decrypt data, with Butterfill saying slower reform could delay institutional activity but wouldn't budge his medium-term outlook.