Teachers Union Demands Senate Kill Crypto Market Structure Bill, Citing ‘Profound’ Pension Risks

The American Federation of Teachers is urging Senate leaders to halt work on the chamber’s crypto market structure bill, warning that the proposal could expose public-sector pensions to unsafe assets and strip protections that have long governed traditional securities.

In a letter sent Monday to Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott and Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren, AFT President Randi Weingarten said the Responsible Financial Innovation Act would replace existing safeguards with a framework that leaves retirement plans more vulnerable than they are today.

AFT said Crypto Market Bill Endangers Working Families’ Pensions

Weingarten wrote that the bill “poses profound risks to the pensions of working families,” arguing it would not provide the regulation or “commonsense guardrails” needed around crypto assets and stablecoins.

She said most pension systems do not hold crypto because of its volatility and unclear legal status and warned that the legislation treats digital assets as if they were established and stable financial products when they are not.

The union represents more than 1.8 million workers in education, healthcare, and public services, including many whose retirement income depends on state and local pension plans.

Its letter warned that the bill would allow companies with no connection to crypto to place their stock on a blockchain and avoid the registration, reporting, and oversight requirements that apply today.

According to the union, the shift would let issuers bypass registration rules and remove oversight of intermediaries that move assets between buyers and sellers.

Weingarten said such a move would leave state and federal regulators with fewer tools to hold bad actors accountable, warning that pensions and 401(k) plans could end up holding assets that appear traditional but are not subject to the same standards.

Senate Rekindles Push to Define Crypto Regulatory Boundaries

The Responsible Financial Innovation Act is the Senate’s main effort to define which crypto assets fall under the jurisdiction of the CFTC and which belong under the SEC. It also aims to set federal rules for exchanges, brokers, custodians, and token issuers.

Supporters say the bill is needed to clarify a growing patchwork of crypto oversight, while critics argue it could break apart existing securities protections without replacing them with something equal in strength.

The debate comes as policymakers attempt to determine whether tokenized versions of traditional instruments can be traded under a revised federal structure and what that means for investors who rely on the security of established markets.

Work on the Senate bill had slowed in the months following the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, which created a backlog across financial regulatory agencies.

Senate Staff Races to Finalize Draft as Holiday Deadline Nears

Several senators have said a new version could emerge before the year ends, though the timeline remains uncertain.

The political environment surrounding the bill has become increasingly tense. Senator Cory Booker warned this week that the legislation’s prospects were weakened after signs that the Supreme Court may soon allow President Trump to fire SEC and CFTC commissioners at will.

With no Democrats currently seated at either agency, and none expected until at least January, Booker said the absence of minority commissioners complicates any bill that depends on those regulators to implement its framework.

The CFTC is currently led by Acting Chair Caroline Pham, who has held the position since January after Rostin Behnam stepped down.

President Trump has nominated Michael Selig, a senior SEC attorney focused on cryptocurrency policy, to serve as the permanent chairman, though his confirmation remains pending before the Senate.

Despite the uncertainty, Senator Cynthia Lummis said she wants the Senate Banking Committee to move ahead with a markup of the market structure bill as early as next week.

She described staff across both parties as “exhausted” after multiple rounds of revisions and said she hopes to circulate a final draft before Congress leaves for the holidays.

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