Senate Agriculture Committee opens markup on Digital Commodities Intermediaries Act, seeks CFTC authority over spot trading

An unidentified senator opened a committee markup to consider the Digital Commodities Intermediaries Act, calling the meeting "the culmination of literally months of work." The speaker said the bill would give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission authority to regulate spot trading of digital commodities and would include a definition of "digital commodity," protections for innovation and technology, and consumer-protection safeguards.

The bill, described by the presiding senator as the product of "scores of bipartisan meetings," builds on a discussion draft released last year with Senator Booker and incorporates stakeholder feedback, the speaker said. "That discussion draft was released in good faith, and we received significant stakeholder feedback," the speaker said, adding that while some conversations were cordial and substantive, "in some issues, there were fundamental policy disagreements." The speaker framed those disagreements as normal but said the committee had made "significant progress."

The presiding senator argued that "the CFTC is the right agency to regulate the spot trading of digital commodities," and said the legislation applies the agency's principles-based structure and grants it new regulatory authority over spot-market trading. "At a high level, this bill provides a clear definition of a digital commodity, protects innovation and technology, establishes consumer protection safeguards, and equips the agency with the necessary resources to take on this new responsibility," the speaker said.

The senator emphasized intercommittee coordination, saying the committee's work is one piece of broader market-structure legislation. "Our colleagues on the Senate Banking Committee, under the leadership of chairman Tim Scott, will advance their portion of market structure legislation in the near future," the speaker said, and added that both Senate portions "will need to be combined before they can move across the floor." The speaker also referenced related House activity, saying both Senate bills "build upon the work done in the House led by Chairman Hill and Thompson," noting the House bill called the "digital asset market clarity act" received bipartisan support last summer.

Beyond jurisdiction, the speaker urged the administration and Senate leadership to ensure the CFTC is "fully constituted and adequately funded," saying it is "essential to have a completely staffed bipartisan commission" to implement the proposed authority. The statement concluded with recognition of Senator Klobuchar to make the next remarks.

Next steps: The committee proceeded to recognize Senator Klobuchar for remarks; the committee indicated further work will include coordination with the Senate Banking Committee and consideration of how to staff and fund the CFTC to carry out any new authority.