A group of senior Senate Republicans has released a set of core principles outlining how they want the United States to regulate its digital asset markets.
The announcement, made Tuesday morning, comes as lawmakers prepare for a new round of discussions seeking to build a legislative framework for crypto in the U.S.
Senator Tim Scott, GOP Allies Lay Groundwork for Crypto Regulation Framework
The principles were put forward by Senator Tim Scott, ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, along with Senators Thom Tillis, Bill Hagerty, and Cynthia Lummis.
Their proposal marks the Senate’s clearest indicator yet that it is ready to engage with the House in shaping broad crypto market structure laws.
“These principles will serve as an important baseline for negotiations on this bill, and I’m hopeful my colleagues will put politics aside and provide long-overdue clarity for digital asset regulation,” Senator Scott said.
The GOP framework calls for clearer distinctions between securities and commodities in crypto, a shared oversight model between agencies, and protections against the emergence of a single all-powerful regulator.
It also includes targeted anti-money laundering rules described as “pro-innovation” and encourages federal regulators to use tools like no-action letters, sandboxes, and safe harbors to work more closely with crypto projects.
Tuesday’s announcement comes ahead of a hearing by the Senate Banking Committee’s subcommittee on digital assets. Senator Lummis, who chairs the subcommittee, said the U.S. has been falling behind global peers.
“While the European Union and Singapore have established clear regulations, the U.S. continues to sit on the sidelines while the digital asset industry seeks greener pastures,” she said. “That changes today.”
A Senate hearing was held Tuesday afternoon to begin examining market structure policy in greater detail.
Witnesses included legal representatives from Coinbase and Multicoin Capital, as well as a digital finance expert from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
The discussion was billed as one of the Senate’s first major steps following its recent passage of the stablecoin-focused GENIUS Act.
That bill passed the Senate on June 17 in a 68–30 vote, drawing support from nearly all Republicans and 18 Democrats.
The legislation is now with the House of Representatives, where lawmakers are weighing how to proceed.
Options under consideration include passing the bill unchanged, merging it with the House’s version of stablecoin legislation, or combining it with the market structure bill in a broader package.
Trump Demands Fast-Track for Stablecoin Bill as House Weighs Broader Crypto Package
President Donald Trump has urged the House to move “LIGHTNING FAST” and send the stablecoin bill to his desk without changes.
“The Senate just passed an incredible Bill that is going to make America the UNDISPUTED Leader in Digital Assets,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Get it to my desk, ASAP—NO DELAYS, NO ADD ONS.”
However, House Financial Services Chairman French Hill has said he wants to move the stablecoin and market structure bills together.
That could complicate things, especially if the Senate introduces its own version of the market structure legislation rather than adopting the House’s CLARITY Act.
The House has already made progress on the CLARITY Act, which passed through both the Financial Services and Agriculture Committees earlier this month. The bill is expected to head to the House floor soon.
As both chambers weigh their options, questions remain over how much bipartisan agreement can be reached, especially with Democrats raising concerns about crypto’s role in illicit finance and the personal ties between the Trump family and the industry.
Several lawmakers have expressed skepticism about how the legislation could benefit Trump or his allies, citing memecoins, digital asset donations, and connections to the World Liberty Financial platform.
Still, Senator Lummis emphasized that last week’s vote was just the beginning. “The stablecoin bill is only the first step,” she said on the Senate floor. “Now we must finish what we started and pass a strong market structure bill before the year ends.”
For now, both chambers are continuing on separate but parallel tracks. Whether they can align before the November elections is still unclear.
But Tuesday’s hearing and the release of formal Senate principles suggest the groundwork for compromise is now in place.
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