Severe winter weather in Washington has forced senators to postpone a key vote on legislation that would shape how digital asset markets are regulated in the U.S. The delay affects what would have been the first formal Senate markup of a broad bill addressing the structure of crypto markets.
The Senate Agriculture Committee stated that it would not move forward with its planned Tuesday consideration of the Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act due to hazardous weather conditions. Committee staff pointed to unsafe travel, with large portions of the capital covered in ice and snow as frigid temperatures settled in after a storm.
Federal offices in Washington were closed on Monday, and transportation disruptions spread beyond the city. Flights were canceled nationwide, while Reagan National Airport experienced significant delays as airlines worked through backlogs. Schools and universities across Virginia, Washington, and Maryland either shut down or shifted to remote instruction. Members of Congress also faced limited mobility as cleanup crews continued snow removal efforts.
The weather-related setback adds another complication to an already slow legislative process. The markup is closely watched because it would mark the first time the Senate formally debates and amends a bill focused on crypto markets. The committee oversees the CFTC, and the proposal would broaden the agency’s authority over digital commodities, including Bitcoin.
The measure is the result of months of negotiations, though bipartisan backing has been challenging. Even before the storm, the outlook for the legislation was uncertain due to delays elsewhere in the Senate.
The Banking Committee, which has jurisdiction over the SEC, has repeatedly postponed work on the CLARITY Act. The initiative lost momentum earlier this month after Coinbase withdrew backing, citing objections to limits on tokenized equities, restrictions tied to stablecoin rewards, and disagreements over how regulatory authority should be divided.
Members of the Banking Committee have since turned their attention to housing policy following Trump’s call to focus on affordability. As a result, crypto legislation from that panel is now expected no earlier than late February or early March.
The delays have placed added pressure on the Agriculture Committee’s proposal, which now stands as the most immediate path forward for crypto market reform. However, when the Republican-led committee released its bill text last week, it appeared to lack meaningful Democratic backing.
The two Senate approaches also diverge on substance. The Banking Committee draft places explicit limits on interest-style incentives for holding payment stablecoins. By contrast, the Agriculture Committee version largely avoids addressing yield by excluding approved payment stablecoins from CFTC regulatory oversight and deferring related questions to other efforts, including the GENIUS Act. It also clearly assigns meme coins to CFTC oversight, a provision not included in the competing draft.
Political attention on the issue has intensified after Trump recently stated that he expects to sign a cryptocurrency market structure measure in the near future, framing crypto as an important element of U.S. economic competitiveness.
For now, leading crypto industry actors like Cantor Equity Partners Inc. (NASDAQ: CEP) can only watch and wait as the lawmakers work through the process that will finally put a bill on the desk of the president for enacting.
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