US Senate Agriculture Committee chair John Boozman said Republicans have not reached agreement with Democrats on key policy issues in crypto market structure legislation.
His comments came as the committee released a Republican draft of the bill ahead of a scheduled markup on January 27.
“While differences remain on fundamental policy issues, this bill builds on our bipartisan discussion draft while incorporating input from stakeholders and represents months of work,”
Boozman said.
He added that the legislation would move forward despite lacking Democratic support.
The bill outlines how crypto markets would be overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Crypto lawyer James Murphy said the proposal creates a pathway for decentralised finance to avoid certain CFTC regulations.
Murphy noted that the draft includes liability protections for DeFi software developers and some service providers.
The bill does not address stablecoin yield regulation, which lawmakers say falls under the Senate Banking Committee’s remit.
Consensys lawyer Bill Hughes said the draft focuses on intermediaries rather than protocols, users or self-custody wallets.
The release follows reports that a separate Senate Banking Committee crypto bill may be delayed until February or March.