Wall Street calls Senate’s new bill the most ‘consequential’ regulation since 1930

On Nov. 10, the Senate Agriculture Committee released its draft framework for regulating digital asset commodities, a landmark step toward establishing comprehensive rules for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) in the United States.

The bipartisan text, co-authored by Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), marks the first concrete proposal to give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) clear jurisdiction over spot digital commodities.

Related: Polymarket wins CFTC approval to launch in U.S.

It also sets out formal standards for market integrity, fund segregation, and consumer protection across the crypto sector.

“This is the most consequential roadmap for how an institution is going to integrate digital assets into their business,” said Cody Carbone, CEO of the Digital Chamber, in an interview with CNBC.

“It’s the best possible step-by-step of what compliance requirements they’ll need to follow to work with crypto.”

Wall Street analysts and crypto executives are describing the bill as the “Dodd-Frank moment” for digital assets, a long-awaited bridge between traditional financial regulation and blockchain innovation.

“This discussion draft advances those goals and lays an important marker as we work toward final policy language,” said Boozman, adding that “the CFTC is the right agency to regulate spot digital commodity trading.”

The legislation also has White House backing. President Donald Trump has called the market structure overhaul a top priority of his administration, viewing it as a pathway to bring “regulatory clarity” and boost innovation at home.

Top banking executives and regulators are increasingly voicing support for clear crypto market rules, saying the Senate’s new framework could finally bring digital assets into the traditional financial system.

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said that regulatory clarity would trigger a wave of banking adoption.

“If the rules come in and make it a real thing that you can actually do business with, you will find the banking system will come in hard on the transactional side of it,” Moynihan.

Gracy Chen, CEO at Bitget, a universal exchange (UEX), in a statement to TheStreet Roundtable, said:

“The disruption of key agencies and delays in market-structure legislation have exposed the fragility of centralized operations, potentially accelerating calls for clearer, bipartisan crypto regulation once normal functions resume.”

Brian Armstrong, CEO of S&P 500-listed company Coinbase, on Oct. 23, said the company had great meetings with the Democrats in the Senate and on the Republican side today

He added:

“The good news is that there’s strong bipartisan support and will to get this market structure legislation done. It’s important for America and for the 15 million Americans involved in crypto. Even though the government is shut down, the Senate is working hard on getting market structure legislation passed for crypto.”

The draft provides the clearest outline yet for how U.S. agencies might divide oversight of the crypto market.

The text explicitly classifies major cryptocurrencies like BTC and ETH as digital commodities, falling under CFTC supervision.

Crypto exchanges will be required to separate trading, custody, and brokerage functions, a move reminiscent of the Glass-Steagall-era separations that shaped U.S. banking.

The CFTC would gain joint rule-making powers with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on issues like custody, registration, and consumer disclosure.

Regulated entities would pay fees to support CFTC operations — including licensing, examinations, and educational outreach.

This marks the most comprehensive crypto framework since the 1930s securities laws — the first time Congress has proposed a clear split of authority between the SEC and CFTC. For decades, that jurisdictional gap left the crypto market in regulatory limbo. If enacted, it would effectively bring Bitcoin, Ethereum, and exchanges under the same structural oversight that governs traditional commodities and capital markets.

The bill instructs exchanges to only list tokens “not readily susceptible to manipulation,” a rule meant to curb rug pulls and wash trading.

The Agriculture Committee’s text will eventually merge with the Senate Banking Committee’s own draft, which focuses on securities regulation.

Together, they will form the Digital Asset Market Structure Bill — a sweeping legislative package expected to define how crypto interacts with U.S. capital markets for years to come.

Related: AI dominated this year’s Super Bowl ads as crypto sets its sights on Wall Street

This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Nov 12, 2025, where it first appeared in the Policy section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.