The U.S. Senate has refined its proposed legislation concerning the structure of cryptocurrency markets, adding a crucial specification regarding the regulatory treatment of tokenized assets.
This new addition clarifies that stocks and other traditional securities will maintain their classification as securities even when represented as tokens on a blockchain. This prevents any potential ambiguity about whether they should be regulated as commodities instead.
This distinction carries significant weight for businesses involved in tokenization. Stocks are already subject to securities regulations. By affirming their status as securities when tokenized, the amendment ensures compatibility with existing broker-dealer regulations, clearing systems, and trading platforms.
“Our goal is to have this legislation enacted before the year concludes,” stated Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis, a key advocate for the bill, in an interview with CNBC. Her statement can be found here.
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Crypto bill divides regulatory authority between SEC and CFTC
The Senate bill, officially known as the Responsible Financial Innovation Act of 2025, provides a clear framework for determining whether the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) should oversee specific digital assets.
Senator Lummis informed CNBC that she anticipates a vote on the SEC-related provisions by the Senate Banking Committee this month, followed by a vote on CFTC oversight by the Agriculture Committee in October. A vote by the full Senate could potentially occur as early as November.
Although the draft legislation has not yet garnered support from the Democratic party, Lummis indicated that bipartisan discussions are underway. “Efforts have been made to pair Democratic and Republican lawmakers on specific aspects of the bill,” she explained, expressing optimism about building broad support across party lines.
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Crypto sector urges Senate to safeguard developers in market legislation
Last month, a coalition of 112 cryptocurrency companies, investors, and advocacy groups jointly called on the US Senate to incorporate protections for software developers and providers of non-custodial services within its forthcoming crypto market structure bill.
In a formal letter addressed to both the Senate Banking and Agriculture Committees, the group cautioned that outdated financial regulations could inadvertently classify these individuals and entities as intermediaries, which would be inappropriate.
Prominent companies like Coinbase, Kraken, Ripple, a16z, and Uniswap Labs joined in advocating for these protections. They contend that regulatory uncertainty is already causing developers to leave the U.S. Citing figures from Electric Capital, the letter highlighted that the U.S.’s share of open-source blockchain developers has declined from 25% in 2021 to 18% in 2025.
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